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 the University of Nebraska Medical Center 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 UNMC researcher, Todd Wyatt, Ph.D., associate professor and principal investigator of a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health’s 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.
Dr. Wyatt said when alcohol is consumed, the body makes a chemical called acetaldehyde. 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.
He said large concentrations of malondialdehyde and acetaldehyde are found in the lungs of heavy drinkers who smoke.
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.
Dr. Wyatt said the airways of smokers who drink alcohol are more susceptible to bacterial infection, 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.
UNMC is the only public health science center in the state. Its educational programs are responsible for training more health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other institution. Through their commitment to education, research, patient care and outreach, UNMC and its hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center, have established themselves as one of the country’s leading centers in cancer, transplantation biology, bioterrorism preparedness, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, genetics, biomedical technology and ophthalmology. UNMC’s research funding from external sources now exceeds $82 million annually and has resulted in the creation of more than 2,400 highly skilled jobs in the state. UNMC’s physician practice group, UNMC Physicians, includes 513 physicians in 50 specialties and subspecialties who practice primarily in The Nebraska Medical Center. For more information, go to UNMC’s Web site at www.unmc.edu.