For the first time, cigarette smoking is linked to a major decrease in the concentration of bone marrow progenitor cells.
Orthopedic surgeons in Jerusalem linked cigarette smoking to a major decrease in the concentration of bone marrow progenitor cells (BMPCs), which significantly impairs the healing of bone fractures and hinders bone repairing operations.
Prof. Meir Liebergall, chairman of the orthopedic surgery department at Hadassah-University Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem, just published his team’s findings in the journal Bone Marrow Research.
Working with colleagues Shaul Beyth, Rami Mosheiff, Ori Safran and Anat Daskal, Liebergall said it is already known that tobacco consumption is associated with musculoskeletal degenerative disorders, delayed fracture healing and failure for bone tissues to unite.
BMPCs are known to express CD105 (endoglin), a protein that is central to musculoskeletal healing and regeneration.
The researchers thus hypothesized that smoking is associated with lower levels of BMPCs.
Samples were collected from consenting patients aged 18 to 65 during the first steps of pelvic surgery.
Thirteen smokers and 13 nonsmokers of comparable age and gender were included in the study, while patients with active infectious or cancer, a history of cytotoxic or radiation therapy, primary or secondary metabolic bone disease or bone marrow dysfunction were excluded.
Liebergall noted that “relatively little research has been performed with the aim of studying the effects of smoking on the musculoskeletal system,” as opposed to other organ systems.