Study: Biological changes associated with smoking

Smoking leads to premature tissue aging and increases the risk of developing cancer. It also causes vascular stiffness, with thickening of the blood vessel walls, promoting cardiovascular disease. While the health consequences of tobacco use are now well known, the mechanisms at work are not always well documented. Researchers have therefore become interested in finding biomarkers present in the blood, which could help predict the clinical repercussions of smoking.

The study authors analyzed data from a cohort of 1,006 families from Nancy, composed of at least two biological children who did not have a chronic disease at the time of recruitment in 1993. The participants were regularly examined, via medical visits, blood and urine tests, electrocardiograms, or echocardiograms. The participants were classified according to their smoking status: smoker, non-smoker, or former smoker. While it appears that the group of smokers is on average younger than that of non-smokers and former smokers (36 years old versus 55 and 58 years old respectively), the examinations showed in this group alterations usually attributed to vascular aging (thickening of the carotid artery, stiffness of the arteries).[1].

Twenty blood proteins identified

The study results identified twenty blood proteins associated with this premature aging, whose blood concentrations in active smokers differ from those observed in non-smokers. Some are involved in pro-inflammatory processes, in processes promoting cell death, or even in the development of cancer. These differences observed between smokers and non-smokers persist, even after taking into account all the participants' parameters (age, sex, BMI, comorbidities, blood pressure, etc.).

Persistent biological changes

The study authors also note that they also observed differences between former smokers and people who had never smoked. For example, former smokers were more likely to have high blood pressure and/or dyslipidemia (abnormal blood lipid concentrations). Of the twenty proteins identified, eleven of them had altered blood concentrations compared to the group of non-smokers, including six shared with active smokers. Despite the length of time since smoking cessation (14 years on average), certain biological changes induced by tobacco persist.

Further studies are needed to understand the evolution of proteins over time

Following this study, the researchers hope to conduct a retrospective analysis to analyze the trajectory of these biomarkers over time and understand the dynamics of each of them, particularly since the start of smoking for some of the participants. According to the study authors, these elements could help develop a preventative approach to inflammation and premature aging due to tobacco consumption.

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[1] Inserm, Smoking: a study deciphers the associated biological upheavals, 04/19/2022, (accessed 04/20/2022)