Chronic Exposure to the Combination of Cigarette Smoke and Morphine Decreases CD4⁺ Regulatory T Cell Numbers by Reprogramming the Treg Cell Transcriptome.

ABSTRACT: There is a high incidence of tobacco use among intravenous opioid drug users. It is well established that opioids and tobacco smoke induce a degree of immune activation, and recent work suggests that the combination of these drugs promotes further activation of the immune system. Our approach involved the treatment of wild-type mice with cigarette smoke (SM) for a period of eight weeks, and the chronic continuous administration of morphine (M) via mini-pumps for the final four weeks. In an effort to examine the responses of CD4⁺CD25^highCD127^low regulatory T (Treg) cells, the major immune suppressive cell type, to the combined chronic administration of SM and M, we determined the frequency of these cells in the spleen, lymph nodes and lungs. Flow cyto

SUBMITTER: Shao Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9065607 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature