Cigarette smoke contains high concentrations of oxidants and reactive oxygen species. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of long-term cigarette smoking on glutathione (GSH) levels in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid. Nineteen current cigarette smokers and seven healthy nonsmoking volunteers were included in the study. BAL was performed by infusion of five sequential 20 ml aliquots and each aliquot was immediately aspirated. The levels of GSH were determined in BAL fluids. The epithelial lining fluid volume was calculated by the ratio of urea concentration in BAL fluid to that in serum. Lower GSH levels were observed in the BAL fluid of current smokers than in that of nonsmokers (8.28 ± 0.78, 12.74 ± 1.09 µM respectively, p

Cigarette smoke contains high concentrations of oxidants and reactive oxygen species. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of long-term cigarette smoking on glutathione (GSH) levels in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid. Nineteen current cigarette smokers and seven healthy nonsmoking volunteers were included in the study. BAL was performed by infusion of five sequential 20 ml aliquots and each aliquot was immediately aspirated. The levels of GSH were determined in BAL fluids. The epithelial lining fluid volume was calculated by the ratio of urea concentration in BAL fluid to that in serum. Lower GSH levels were observed in the BAL fluid of current smokers than in that of nonsmokers (8.28 ± 0.78, 12.74 ± 1.09 µM respectively, p