Smoking, heavy drinking produce ‘double whammy’ in lungs

Todd Wyatt, Ph.D.

It’s well known that prolonged, heavy consumption of alcohol can cause liver and brain damage and that smoking causes a variety of life-threatening diseases.

Researchers at UNMC now want to shed light on a little known fact: that the combination of alcohol and smoking makes lung disease even worse.

“Alcohol permeates every part of the body, including the lungs. For those who drink heavily and smoke, it’s a double whammy when it comes to affecting their health. We are using an innovative approach to try to find the biological basis for this,” said Todd Wyatt, Ph.D., associate professor and principal investigator of a $1.5 million grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. “We ultimately want to find ways to prevent or treat chronic inflammatory lung disease in those who smoke and drink.”

Heavy drinking is considered to be more than two or three drinks a day. A number of studies suggest that most heavy drinkers also smoke.

When alcohol is consumed, the body makes a chemical called acetaldehyde, Dr. Wyatt said.

“Alcohol permeates every part of the body, including the lungs.” Todd Wyatt, Ph.D.

Cigarette smoke also contains high levels of acetaldehyde. But the combination of smoke and alcohol creates a chemical change to proteins called malondialdehyde-acetaldehyde (MAA) adduct, which can cause chronic inflammation in the lungs and lead to chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

Large concentrations of malondialdehyde and acetaldehyde are found in the lungs of heavy drinkers who smoke, Dr. Wyatt said.

In the study, researchers will evaluate the effect of alcohol and cigarette smoke in the lungs of mouse models. They want to know whether MAA decreases the function of cilia in the lungs and causes chronic inflammatory airway disease. One of the roles of cilia is to help the body remove foreign objects by propelling mucus out of the lungs.

The airways of smokers who drink alcohol are more susceptible to bacterial infection, Dr. Wyatt said, suggesting a compromise in the protective function of cilia. His hypothesis is that prolonged exposure to the unique combination of cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption results in the impairment of cilia function.