These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that reducing tobacco protein content would reduce bacterial mutagenicity, without introducing any new genotoxic or cytotoxic hazard. Further toxicity testing is warranted to investigate the effects of the tobacco treatment in more detail, and to add to the data already obtained. The authors are employees of BAT, except for Dr. R Combes who acts as a consultant to BAT and who was paid for his contribution to this manuscript. BAT funded this research as part of its tobacco harm reduction scientific programme. The Authors declare that no financial or

personal conflicts of interest exist with regard to the submission of the manuscript entitled “The effect of a novel tobacco selleck products process on the in vitro Hydroxychloroquine clinical trial cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of cigarette smoke particulate matter”. The MLA was performed by Covance Laboratories. “
“Organophosphates (OPs), which inhibit cholinesterase,

have been widely used as pesticides and additives for lubricants and have been developed as warfare nerve agents (WHO, 1993). The toxic action of OPs is related to the binding of these compounds to the active site of the acetylcholinesterase enzyme (AChE; EC 3.1.1.7), thus inhibiting hydrolysis of the acetylcholine neurotransmitter (ACh) at central and peripheral synapses (Holmstedt, Thiamine-diphosphate kinase 1959 and Taylor et al., 1995). The inactivation of AChE results in an accumulation of acetylcholine at cholinergic receptor sites and a cholinergic crisis that can lead to death, usually via respiratory failure due to paralysis of the diaphragm and intercostals muscles, as well as cerebral respiratory center depression and excessive bronchial secretion (Marrs, 1993). The enzymes associated with antioxidant defense mechanisms are altered under the influence of pesticides, leading to

an imbalance between generation of oxidant molecules and intracellular antioxidant systems (Banerjee et al., 1999), which may induce oxidative stress in rats (Gultekin et al., 2000 and Gupta et al., 2001), mice (da Silva et al., 2006 and da Silva et al., 2008), and humans (Banerjee et al., 1999). Moreover, OPs cause lipid peroxidation in rat brains (Verma and Srivastava, 2001) and human erythrocytes (Gultekin et al., 2000). However, the exact mechanism by which OPs induce oxidative damage is not fully understood (Abdollahi et al., 2004). Methamidophos (MAP) is an OP and a potent AChE inhibitor used to control insects that plague a variety of crops such as brassica, cotton, tobacco, sugar beet, lettuce, potatoes, and tree fruits (WHO, 1993). MAP is highly toxic to aquatic organisms (Tomlin, 1994) and mice (Zayed et al., 1984). It also has anticholinesterase activity in humans (Worek et al., 2007 and Worek et al., 2004).