Nick Romito

Daniel Reine

Matt Schaeffer

Junaid Sandozi

A recent study reveals that cigarette smoke may lead to fibrosis in the heart and kidneys. A control group of rats was compared to one that had been exposed to cigarette smoke, and the results showed that exposed (5 days a week for 4 weeks) animals had increased levels of fibrosis. The mechanism by which this is thought to occur is due to a decreased level of anti-fibrotic mRNA which was was sigificantly reduced in exposed groups in comparison to control groups.  This may give us insight into how smoke can affect humans, as many of the mechanisms that regulate these mechanisms are similar in both mice and humans.