Go to JCI Insight
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • By specialty
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Gastroenterology
    • Immunology
    • Metabolism
    • Nephrology
    • Neuroscience
    • Oncology
    • Pulmonology
    • Vascular biology
    • All ...
  • Videos
    • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
    • Video Abstracts
  • Reviews
    • View all reviews ...
    • Pancreatic Cancer (Jul 2025)
    • Complement Biology and Therapeutics (May 2025)
    • Evolving insights into MASLD and MASH pathogenesis and treatment (Apr 2025)
    • Microbiome in Health and Disease (Feb 2025)
    • Substance Use Disorders (Oct 2024)
    • Clonal Hematopoiesis (Oct 2024)
    • Sex Differences in Medicine (Sep 2024)
    • View all review series ...
  • Viewpoint
  • Collections
    • In-Press Preview
    • Clinical Research and Public Health
    • Research Letters
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Editorials
    • Commentaries
    • Editor's notes
    • Reviews
    • Viewpoints
    • 100th anniversary
    • Top read articles

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Specialties
  • Reviews
  • Review series
  • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
  • Video Abstracts
  • In-Press Preview
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Research Letters
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Editorials
  • Commentaries
  • Editor's notes
  • Reviews
  • Viewpoints
  • 100th anniversary
  • Top read articles
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
Top
  • View PDF
  • Download citation information
  • Send a comment
  • Terms of use
  • Standard abbreviations
  • Need help? Email the journal
  • Top
  • Abstract
  • Version history
  • Article usage
  • Citations to this article

Advertisement

Research Article Free access | 10.1172/JCI114273

Increased levels of bombesin-like peptides in the lower respiratory tract of asymptomatic cigarette smokers.

S M Aguayo, M A Kane, T E King Jr, M I Schwarz, L Grauer, and Y E Miller

Department of Medicine, Veteran's Administration Medical Center, Denver, Colorado 80220.

Find articles by Aguayo, S. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Department of Medicine, Veteran's Administration Medical Center, Denver, Colorado 80220.

Find articles by Kane, M. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Department of Medicine, Veteran's Administration Medical Center, Denver, Colorado 80220.

Find articles by King, T. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Department of Medicine, Veteran's Administration Medical Center, Denver, Colorado 80220.

Find articles by Schwarz, M. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Department of Medicine, Veteran's Administration Medical Center, Denver, Colorado 80220.

Find articles by Grauer, L. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Department of Medicine, Veteran's Administration Medical Center, Denver, Colorado 80220.

Find articles by Miller, Y. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Published October 1, 1989 - More info

Published in Volume 84, Issue 4 on October 1, 1989
J Clin Invest. 1989;84(4):1105–1113. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI114273.
© 1989 The American Society for Clinical Investigation
Published October 1, 1989 - Version history
View PDF
Abstract

Bombesin-related peptides are growth factors for a variety of cells, including normal human bronchial epithelial cells. An ELISA for bombesin-like peptides (BLP) has been devised using the MAb BBC353, which is specific for the biologically active carboxy-terminal fragment shared by all known BLP. Using this ELISA, we measured bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid levels of BLP in normal cigarette smokers (n = 15) and normal nonsmokers (n = 18). Smokers' BAL fluid contained increased levels of BLP, whether expressed in terms of BAL fluid volume (P = 0.0001) or protein content (P less than 0.05). BLP levels did not correlate with any cellular constituent in the BAL fluid but immunostaining of lung tissue with BBC353 revealed an intense specific staining of neuroendocrine cells, implying these as a potential source. Two peaks of bombesin-like immunoreactivity were purified using sequential reverse phase and gel filtration HPLC. Both BLP have apparent molecular weights similar to gastrin-releasing peptide on gel filtration HPLC analysis. However, the amino acid composition of these BLP is different from that of gastrin-releasing peptide or neuromedin B, the only known mammalian forms of BLP, suggesting either incomplete purification or novel peptides. Sequence analysis could not be performed due to blocking groups at the amino terminus of these peptides. Our data demonstrate that cigarette smoking is associated with increased levels of pulmonary BLP and imply a potential role for these neuropeptides in the lung's response to tobacco smoke.

Images.

Browse pages

Click on an image below to see the page. View PDF of the complete article

icon of scanned page 1105
page 1105
icon of scanned page 1106
page 1106
icon of scanned page 1107
page 1107
icon of scanned page 1108
page 1108
icon of scanned page 1109
page 1109
icon of scanned page 1110
page 1110
icon of scanned page 1111
page 1111
icon of scanned page 1112
page 1112
icon of scanned page 1113
page 1113
Version history
  • Version 1 (October 1, 1989): No description

Article tools

  • View PDF
  • Download citation information
  • Send a comment
  • Terms of use
  • Standard abbreviations
  • Need help? Email the journal

Metrics

  • Article usage
  • Citations to this article

Go to

  • Top
  • Abstract
  • Version history
Advertisement
Advertisement

Copyright © 2025 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)

Sign up for email alerts