BACKGROUND: Telomeres are repetitive DNA sequences located at the ends of chromosomes. Chromosomal and genomic instability due to @entity409 has been known to play an important role in the @entity105 of some organs. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to examine the correlation between smoking and the telomere length of @entity1 bronchial epithelial cells in individuals with and without @entity2 . @entity1 AND METHODS: We examined 68 @entity2 adult autopsy cases and 24 surgically resected cases of @entity957 . Telomere lengths of the basal cells of bronchial epithelium were measured using the tissue quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization method and were expressed in normalized telomere-to-centromere ratios (NTCRs). RESULTS: The autopsied individuals included 27 current smokers (CuS), 33 never-smokers (NeS), and 8 ex-smokers (ExS). The NTCRs in the central bronchi of CuS, NeS, and ExS were 1.515, 1.372, and 1.204, respectively. The bronchial epithelial telomeres of CuS were significantly longer than those of non-CuS (NeS + ExS). When the analysis was conducted separately for females and males, a significant difference between CuS and NeS + ExS was recognized only for males. The NTCRs of the bronchial epithelium of @entity2 cases and @entity2 tissue are 1.514 and 1.385, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that smoking causes telomeric elongation in the bronchial epithelium. Therefore, it appears that the mechanism of @entity105 in smoking-related @entity189 may differ from that of many other @entity189 in which genetic instability due to aging-related telomeric shortening is assumed to play a role.

Telomere Length of XXXX Adult Bronchial Epithelium and @entity957 Measured Using Tissue Quantitative Fluorescence in situ Hybridization.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['human', 'PATIENTS'] @entity957 :: ('MESH:D002294', 'Disease') :: ['lung squamous cell carcinoma'] @entity409 :: ('MESH:D008107', 'Disease') :: ['telomere dysfunction'] @entity2 :: ('MESH:D008175', 'Disease') :: ['lung cancer', 'non-lung cancer'] @entity189 :: ('MESH:D002277', 'Disease') :: ['carcinomas'] @entity105 :: ('MESH:D063646', 'Disease') :: ['carcinogenesis']
@entity1 :: (9606,Species) :: ['Human']
