-transparent.png){kind=logo}
In order to evaluate the effects of cigarette smoking and asbestos exposure on cellular immunity, we tested a group of cigarette smokers and asbestos workers for natural killer (NK) activity in the peripheral blood. The mean NK activity in cigarette smokers was lower than in normal subjects (13.7 +/- 1.6 versus 29.0 +/- 3%; p less than 0.05). As a group, the mean NK activity for the asbestos-exposed group was also reduced compared with that of the nonsmoking control group (22.6 +/- 3.2%; p less than 0.05). When divided according to the smoking status, the asbestos workers who were nonsmokers or ex-smokers showed similar decreases in NK activity compared with normal subjects (19.5 +/- 6.2 and 21.2 +/- 4.5%, respectively; p less than 0.05). A subgroup of asbestos-exposed subjects who currently smoked showed no decrease in NK activity. The data show that NK activity is reduced in the peripheral blood of cigarette smokers and asbestos workers. The relatively normal NK activity found in asbestos workers who also smoked is unexplained. Impairment of NK activity is a potential mechanism for the increased incidence of infection and cancer in smokers and neoplasia in asbestos workers.
L C Ginns, and
J H Ryu, and
P R Rogol, and
N L Sprince, and
L C Oliver, and
C J Larsson
September 1991,
Clinical immunology and immunopathology,
L C Ginns, and
J H Ryu, and
P R Rogol, and
N L Sprince, and
L C Oliver, and
C J Larsson
September 1988,
Chest,
L C Ginns, and
J H Ryu, and
P R Rogol, and
N L Sprince, and
L C Oliver, and
C J Larsson
January 1990,
Archiv fur Geschwulstforschung,
L C Ginns, and
J H Ryu, and
P R Rogol, and
N L Sprince, and
L C Oliver, and
C J Larsson
January 2000,
Journal of occupational and environmental medicine,
L C Ginns, and
J H Ryu, and
P R Rogol, and
N L Sprince, and
L C Oliver, and
C J Larsson
October 1987,
Taiwan yi xue hui za zhi. Journal of the Formosan Medical Association,
L C Ginns, and
J H Ryu, and
P R Rogol, and
N L Sprince, and
L C Oliver, and
C J Larsson
May 1990,
British journal of industrial medicine,
L C Ginns, and
J H Ryu, and
P R Rogol, and
N L Sprince, and
L C Oliver, and
C J Larsson
July 2012,
The British journal of nutrition,
L C Ginns, and
J H Ryu, and
P R Rogol, and
N L Sprince, and
L C Oliver, and
C J Larsson
June 1981,
Journal of occupational medicine. : official publication of the Industrial Medical Association,
L C Ginns, and
J H Ryu, and
P R Rogol, and
N L Sprince, and
L C Oliver, and
C J Larsson
September 1998,
The American journal of medicine,
L C Ginns, and
J H Ryu, and
P R Rogol, and
N L Sprince, and
L C Oliver, and
C J Larsson
June 2010,
Nihon rinsho. Japanese journal of clinical medicine,
