Acta Pharmacologica Sinica (2009) 30: 715-722; doi: 10.1038/aps.2009.67

Acta Pharmacologica Sinica (2009) 30: 715-722; doi: 10.1038/aps.2009.67; published online 18 May 2009

Review

Nicotine and inflammatory neurological disorders

Wen-Hua PIAO^1,2,*, Denise CAMPAGNOLO¹, Carlos DAYAO¹, Ronald J LUKAS¹, Jie WU¹, Fu-Dong SHI^1,*

¹Barrow Neurological Institute, St Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix, AZ 85013, USA; ²Department of Clinical Laboratory, Ningxia People’s Hospital, Yinchuan 750021, China

Cigarette smoke is a major health risk factor which significantly increases the incidence of diseases including lung cancer and respiratory infections. However, there is increasing evidence that smokers have a lower incidence of some inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases. Nicotine is the main immunosuppressive constituent of cigarette smoke, which inhibits both the innate and adaptive immune responses. Unlike cigarette smoke, nicotine is not yet considered to be a carcinogen and may, in fact, have therapeutic potential as a neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory agent. This review provides a synopsis summarizing the effects of nicotine on the immune system and its (nicotine) influences on various neurological diseases.

Keywords: nicotine; cigarette smoke; immune system

This work was supported by Barrow Neurological Foundation.
We thank Alain SIMARD and Paul WHITEAKER for discussions.

* Correspondence to Dr Fu-Dong SHI or Dr Wen-Hua PIAO.
E-mail Fu-Dong.Shi@chw.edu or wenhuapiao@hotmail.com
Received 2009-03-22 Accepted 2009-04-14

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