Smoking linked to brain damage: Study

The new research, published online in the ‘Journal of Neurochemistry’ on June 2, states that tobacco smoke contains a compound which can cause brain damage.

The culprit compound
The new study examined ‘4-(methylnitrosamino) - 1 - (3-pyridyl)-1-butanone’ abbreviated (NNK), a nitrosamine present in tobacco, which is a potent procarcinogen. This compound is produced when it is processed for its use in the cigarettes.

The study, performed by Debapriya Ghosh and Dr Anirban Basu, from the Indian National Brain Research Center (NBRC), says that this compound makes white blood cells in the central nervous system of the human brain attack the healthy cells, causing severe neurological damage.

Unlike alcohol or other forms of drug abuse, this drug does not impact the brain tissue directly. Instead, it triggers an inflammatory immunological response that is believed to lead to ‘Multiple Sclerosis’ and other forms of brain diseases.

Both within vivo (in mice), and in vitro tests, the researchers discovered the compound showing:

• Proinflammatory signaling proteins,

• Proinflammatory effector proteins,

• Other stress related proteins, and

• Increased levels of proinflammatory cytokines, which act as molecular messengers between cells.

All these factors led to the increased activity by microglia, the brain's white blood cells that are responsible for attacking the intruders.

Researchers' further observations
Says Professor Ghosh, "Considering the extreme economical and disease burden of neuroinflammation related disorders, it is extremely important from a medical, social and economic point of view to discover if NNK in tobacco causes neuroinflammation. Our findings prove that tobacco compound NNK can activate microglia significantly which subsequently harms the nerve cells.”

This report also adds more evidence on the second hand smoke that may damage non-smokers' health.

Concludes Professor Ghosh, "This research sheds light on the processes that lead to nerve cell damage in those who smoke cigarettes or consume tobacco products on regular basis."