Effect of Nicotine on Cytokine Production by Human Mononuclears: Perspective of COVID-19

Abstract

Nicotine is present in the tobacco-containing products such as cigars, cigarettes, chewing tobacco, snus (an oral tobacco) and pipe tobacco. In Indian population, nicotine containing products are consumed by the 57% of population either in chewing form or smoking form. The correlation of nicotine and lung cancer in chronic smokers as well as nicotine consumption and COVID-19 incidence has to be justified. Hence current research was carried to study the effect of nicotine on cytokine production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC’s). MACSPlex Cytokine12 assay was used for the estimation of cytokine after treatment of PBMC’s with the nicotine. Concentration of cytokines (IL 10, IL 12p70, IL 17, IFN α, IFN γ, GM CSF, IL 4, IL 5, IL 2 and IL 9) was found to be increased in the sample containing PBMC’s treated with the 20 µl of nicotine indicating that nicotine promotes PBMC’s for the secretion of IL 10, IL 12p70, IL 17, IFN α, IFN γ, GM CSF, IL 4, IL 5, IL 2 and IL 9 but it impedes the production of IL 6 and TNF α the important pro-inflammatory cytokines. IL 6 and TNF α are the important pro-inflammatory cytokines in COVID-19 infection being responsible to switch the infection from mild to a fatal one. The impeding characteristics of nicotine can be proposed to have potential of pharmaceutical nicotine as a future treatment option in COVID-19. The detailed studies are needed for developing nicotine patches as a prospective cytokine release syndrome (CRS) therapy for COVID-19 to combat this dreadful pandemic.