Cigarette Smoke Mediates Nasal Epithelial Barrier Dysfunction via TNF-α

Abstract

We found that cigarette smoke disrupted the nasal mucosal barrier, and the extent of the damage was correlated with the duration of cigarette smoke exposure. We showed that TNF-α can disrupt the continuity and attenuate the expression of tight junction proteins in human bronchial epithelial cells. Therefore, cigarette smoke may induce nasal epithelial barrier dysfunction through TNF-α.