IMR Press / FBE / Volume 6 / Issue 2 / DOI: 10.2741/E708

Frontiers in Bioscience-Elite (FBE) is published by IMR Press from Volume 13 Issue 2 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.

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The pathophysiology of smoking during pregnancy: a systems biology approach
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1 Department of Pediatrics, James H. Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State, University, Johnson City, Tennessee, 37614, USA
2 Department of Family Medicine, James H. Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee, 37614, USA
3 Department of Internal Medicine, James H. Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee, 37614, USA

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

 

Front. Biosci. (Elite Ed) 2014, 6(2), 318–328; https://doi.org/10.2741/E708
Published: 1 June 2014
Abstract

This article focuses on a systems biology approach to studying the pathophysiology of cigarette smoking during pregnancy. Particular emphasis is given to the damaging role of oxidative stress. Cigarette smoking exerts multiple adverse affects but abundant evidence, mostly in adults, suggests that oxidative stress and free radical damage is a major pathophysiological factor. Smoking during pregnancy is known to contribute to numerous poor birth outcomes, such as low birth weight, preterm birth as well as life-long health and developmental problems. It is clinically important to know the separate contributions that cigarette derived-nicotine and smoking-induced free oxidative stress make to these poor outcomes. Surprisingly, the extent to which smoking dependent oxidative stress contributes to these poor outcomes is not well studied but the application of redox proteomics should be useful. Considerable biochemical evidence suggests that antioxidants, such as tocopherols and ascorbate, could be useful in minimizing oxidative stress induced pathology to the developing fetus in those women who, despite medical advice, continue to smoke. Nevertheless, this suggestion has yet to be tested in well-designed clinical studies.

Keywords
Smoking
Oxidative Stress
Biomarkers
Vitamin E
Gamma-Tocopherol
Ascorbate
Pregnancy
Smoking
Nicotine
Low Birth Weight
System Biology
Placenta
Calcification
Carbon Monoxide
Hypoxia
Prenatal Vitamins
Redox
Proteomics
Carbonyls
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