Recent epidemiologic studies suggest that cigarette smoke (CS) is linked to the progression of kidney disease.

For the first time, as reported by a study being published by the American Physiological Society:

human mesangial cells (MC) - cells in the blood vessels of the kidneys - are endowed with nicotinic receptors (nAChRs) a4, a5, a7, ß2, ß3, ß4 and ß5 (cells that interact with the nicotine in tobacco) and may play an active role in the development of certain kidney diseases.

The study, entitled: "Nicotine: The Link Between Cigarette Smoking and the Progression of Renal Injury?" appears in the Articles in Press Section of the American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology, has the following conclusions:

• identified the presence of functionally active nAChRs in human mesangial cells
• demonstrated that nicotine, at concentrations similar to those found in the plasma of smokers, promotes mesangial cell proliferation and spurs on critical molecules that are involved in the extracellular matrix production.

Read the full report.