Cigarette-smoke-induced priming of neutrophils from smokers and non-smokers for increased oxidative burst response is mediated by TNF-α.

In vitro treatment of human peripheral blood neutrophils from smokers and non-smokers with an aqueous cigarette smoke (CS) extract resulted in a concentration-dependent increase in surface expression of CD11b and CD66b and a corresponding decrease of CD62L, together with a concentration-dependent release of MMP-8, MMP-9, and lactoferrin, indicating considerable activation and degranulation. However, the burst response to N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP) was unchanged in CS-stimulated neutrophils from both smokers and non-smokers. When supernatants from CS-treated monocytic MonoMac-6 (MM6) cells were used for activation of neutrophils, concentration-dependent changes in surface marker expression, granule protein release, and the oxidative burst response to fMLP were observed, again with no major differences between smokers and non-smokers.

Soil factors exhibit greater influence than bacterial inoculation on alfalfa growth and nitrogen fixation.

In order to study the effects of soil factors and bacterial inoculation on alfalfa (Medicago sativa), plants were inoculated with Ensifer meliloti L33 and Azospirillum brasilense Sp7 in pot experiments using two different soils separately as well as in a mixture. One soil was contaminated with chemical waste products; the other was an arable soil. Soil factors, including the availability of macro- and micronutrients as well as carbon and nitrogen contents, were found to exhibit a much greater influence on the growth of alfalfa than any of the inoculations.