The Expression of Toll-Like Receptor 4 mRNA in PBMCs Is Upregulated in Smokers and Decreases Upon Smoking Cessation.

Background: Studies have shown that cigarette smoke condensate stimulates monocytes to express toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), and enhances their adhesion to the endothelium. However, the same effects of cigarette smoking have not been explored . This study is to investigate the effect of cigarette smoking and smoking cessation on their mRNA expression in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs).