Cigarette smoke-induced inflammation and respiratory host defense: Insights from animal models

While the devastating impact of tobacco on human health is well established, and efforts to reduce its prevalence are ongoing, over 1 billion people continue to smoke. Emerging evidence suggests that cigarette smoking distorts lung immune homeostasis, compromising respiratory host defense. Consequently, viral and bacterial agents are dealt with inefficiently and are associated with exaggerated immune inflammatory responses. In this article, we …