Can antioxidants treat diseases caused by cigarette smoke?

Published on February 19, 2008 5:06 AM

A student from University of Rochester discovered that cigarette smoke contains toxins that are able to kill a gene that plays a vital role in protecting the body from the effects of early aging. This gene, named Sirtuin (SIRT), protects the human body from such diseases like chronic pulmonary disease and lung cancer.

The scientists’ goal and hope is to find ways of restoring this gene in organism. They begun testing the potential of antioxidant Resveratrol, which is extracted from red grape skins, and they hope that this antioxidant will help treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

"This new protein will allow us to program our body's immune system against lung damage and premature aging. The hallmark of this discovery is that we may be able to provide remedies to millions of smokers who would like to quit but cannot, and millions of former smokers who, despite quitting, remain at risk for illness as they age," said Irfan Rahman, Ph.D., associate professor of Environmental Medicine and an investigator in the University of Rochester's Lung Biology and Disease Program. For many years Rahman has studied how 4,700 toxic chemical compounds contained in cigarettes damage lung tissue.

Rahman has also analyzed the SIRT gene advantages. He demonstrated that this gene does not only regulate chronic inflammation, cancer and aging but also plays a positive role in stress resistance, metabolism, apoptosis and other processes involved in premature aging. But cigarette smoke or pollution can wipe out this gene from lungs.

Rahman has also studied the levels of SIRT in lungs of smokers and nonsmokers. And he affirmed that SIRT levels were significantly lower with smokers.

Rahman said, ″You can be 45 years old and look great on the exterior, but if you are a smoker or a former smoker, your lungs can be 60 years old because of the chemical disaster.″

Scientific researchers have shown that 23 million Americans have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. By the year 2020, this disease is expected to be the third biggest cause of death worldwide.