Epidemiologic Evidence of and Potential Mechanisms by Which Second-Hand Smoke Causes Predisposition to Latent and Active Tuberculosis

Xiyuan Bai; Shanae L Aerts; Deepshikha Verma; Diane J Ordway; Edward D Chan

doi:10.4110/in.2018.18.e22

Epidemiologic Evidence of and Potential Mechanisms by Which Second-Hand Smoke Causes Predisposition to Latent and Active Tuberculosis

Immune Netw. 2018 Jun 26;18(3):e22. doi: 10.4110/in.2018.18.e22. eCollection 2018 Jun.

Authors

Xiyuan Bai^{1

2

3}, Shanae L Aerts², Deepshikha Verma⁴, Diane J Ordway⁴, Edward D Chan^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine, Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center, Denver, CO 80045, USA.
² Department of Medicine and Office of Academic Affairs, National Jewish Health, Denver, CO 80206, USA.
³ Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Denver, CO 80045, USA.
⁴ Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, Mycobacteria Research Laboratories, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.

Abstract

Many studies have linked cigarette smoke (CS) exposure and tuberculosis (TB) infection and disease although much fewer have studied second-hand smoke (SHS) exposure. Our goal is to review the epidemiologic link between SHS and TB as well as to summarize the effects SHS and direct CS on various immune cells relevant for TB. PubMed searches were performed using the key words "tuberculosis" with "cigarette," "tobacco," or "second-hand smoke." The bibliography of relevant papers were examined for additional relevant publications. Relatively few studies associate SHS exposure with TB infection and active disease. Both SHS and direct CS can alter various components of host immunity resulting in increased vulnerability to TB. While the epidemiologic link of these 2 health maladies is robust, more definitive, mechanistic studies are required to prove that SHS and direct CS actually cause increased susceptibility to TB.

Keywords: Cigarette smoking; Latent tuberculous infection; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Tobacco smoke pollution.

Publication types

Review

Abstract

Publication types

Grants and funding