The effect of cigarette smoke condensate (CSC) on Pseudomonas aeruginosa virulence and antibiotic sensitivity

Tobacco-enhanced biofilm formation by Porphyromonas gingivalis and other oral microbes

Microbial biofilms promote pathogenesis by disguising antigens, facilitating immune evasion, providing protection against antibiotics and other antimicrobials and, generally, fostering survival and persistence. Environmental fluxes are known to influence biofilm formation and composition, with recent data suggesting that tobacco and tobacco-derived stimuli are particularly important mediators of biofilm initiation and development in vitro and determinants of polymicrobial communities in vivo. The evidence for tobacco-augmented biofilm formation by oral bacteria, tobacco-induced oral dysbiosis, tobacco-resistance strategies, and bacterial physiology is summarized herein. A general overview is provided alongside specific insights gained through studies of the model and archetypal, anaerobic, Gram-negative oral pathobiont, Porphyromonas gingivalis.

A Systematic Review of the Literature Examining the Effects of Cigarette Smoke and e-Cigarette Vapor on the Virulence of Human Pathogenic Bacteria

The bioactive chemicals in cigarette smoke (CS) and e-cigarette vapor (EV) may affect pathogenic bacteria in the nasopharyngeal microflora, which may have implications on the pathophysiology of respiratory infections in cigarette smokers and e-cigarette users. In this systematic review, we seek to synthesize the research evidence supporting this hypothesis. To address the central research question, "what is known from the published, peer-reviewed literature about the effects of cigarette smoke or e-cigarette vapor exposure on the physiology of human pathogenic bacteria?", we screened the PubMed^®, Web of Science^TM, and ScienceDirect databases for reports examining the virulence characteristics and gene expression in human pathogenic bacteria exposed to either CS or EV. The principal conclusion from our analysis is that exposure to either CS or EV induces the virulence of respiratory pathogenic bacteria in a strain-dependent manner, which may in turn facilitate respiratory infections in cigarette smokers and e-cigarette users. In addition, we present evidence that nicotine and reactive oxygen species are the main chemicals responsible for CS/EV-mediated alterations in bacterial physiology. We note limitations that this review does not examine reports describing the alterations in host respiratory physiology or nasopharyngeal dysbiosis caused by CS/EV exposure. Future research to determine whether CS/EV-mediated augmentation of bacterial virulence indeed plays a role in human respiratory tract infections is warranted.