Abstract

Allergic rhinitis (AR) is the most widely distributed diseases of upper respiratory tract. The disease is involved many immunological activities and any changes in this system can increase the risk of allergic rhinitis. The disease is also affected by some environmental agents such as dust house, mites, pollens, animal danders and cigarette smoking. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of cigarette smoking on different immune system of patients suffered from allergic rhinitis divided in two groups as cigarette and non cigarette smokers to find whether these patients are more sensitive to cigarette smoke than others and this may aggravate allergies. This analytic descriptive study was conducted on 632 allergic rhinitis patients aged between 17 to 69 years olds referred to the hospitals of Zahedan city from 2005 to 2012. Complete blood cell count such as WBCs, RBCs, lymphocytes, Hb, the amount of serum IgA, IgG, IgM, C3, C4 levels and total serum IgE of patients were measured using a commercial SRID and nephelometry methods. The significant differences in obtained results were evaluated by +2statistical test and SPSS software. The results indicated that low number of neutrophils, and low amount of IgA and IgM were found in smokers compared with nonsmokers. Increased number of WBCs, RBCs, lymphocytes and increased level of Hb, serum IgG, IgE, C3, C4, were found in smokers compared with nonsmokers. Significant correlation between all indices of smokers and nonsmokers individuals were observed (P value 0.01). Study results indicated that cigarette smoking is a risk factor for the development of allergic rhinitis and changing in variety immune responses, have a role in pathogenicity of disease.