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How Smoking Affects Epithelial Cells

Cigarette smoking is a well-known health hazard. It contributes to heart disease, lung cancer, and a number of respiratory disorders. Cigarette smoke contains at least 250 chemicals that are toxic or otherwise harmful to your organs and cells. It damages the delicate epithelial cells within your lungs, leaving your vulnerable to many forms of lung disease.

  1. Epithelial Cell Function

    • Epithelial cells are found throughout the body. They often form a thin lining used to transfer nutrients or oxygen between blood and organs. They also provide protection to important organs.

      In the lungs, a single layer of epithelial cells helps the body expel carbon dioxide as you exhale, and also protects the lungs from damaging pollutants as you breathe in.

      Cigarette smoke contains a number of compounds that damage and destroy epithelial cells, compromising their function and leaving you vulnerable to respiratory diseases.

    Cigarette Smoke and Gene Expression

    • At the most fundamental level, cigarette smoke alters the function of epithelial cells by changing their genetic expressions. When a cell's genetic expression changes, the way it works in the body changes. In the case of the effects of cigarette smoke on epithelial cells, the way the airways within your lungs function is altered. The epithelial cells become less able to fight off bacteria and more prone to damage from free radicals.

      Quitting smoking will restore some function, but some changes to genetic expression are permanent.

    Cigarette Smoke and Free Radical Damage

    • Free radicals are reactive molecules that attack and damage healthy cells, turning them into additional free radicals and creating a vicious cycle of cellular damage. Antioxidants are compounds that neutralize free radicals so that they can't damage your cells. Some level of free radicals in your system is normal, but cigarette smoke greatly increases the number.

      In your lungs, high levels of free radicals can do a great deal of damage. They injure epithelial cells, putting you at greater risk for respiratory diseases and lung cancer.

    Cigarette Smoke and Cell Life

    • Every cell contains DNA strands. At the end of each DNA strand is a cap, called a telomere, that protects the DNA from damage and helps the cells reproduce into healthy new cells. The toxins in cigarette smoke can shorten the DNA telomeres in the lung's epithelial cells. This leads to earlier cell death, resulting in fewer healthy epithelial cells to do the job of protecting the lungs. Compounds in the cigarette smoke can also damage the telomeres and cause faulty cell reproduction, which can lead to cancerous growths within the lungs.

    Other Risk Factors

    • A number of considerations affect your risk of disease due to smoking. Your age, how heavily you smoke, and how long ago you quit (if you've quit), and other lifestyle choices like diet and exercise all affect your risk of developing lung disease or cancer. You do the most to protect yourself from lung disease and lung cancer by choosing not to smoke in the first place. If you already smoke, make the decision today to quit. The sooner you quit, the healthier your lungs will remain.

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