1. Effect of Nicotine on Lung S- Adenosylmethionine and the Development of Pneumocystis Pneumonia By Mehboob Shivji, Suzanna Burger, Camilo Andres Moncada, Allen B. Clarkson, Jr., and Salim Merali

2. Explanation of the Title The title means that the study is on the relationship of nicotine and S- Adenosylmethionine and how it effects pneumocystis pneumonia

3. S-Adenosylmethionine (SAMe) This compound is also known as SAMe or AdoMet for short. SAMe is involved in many functions throughout the body: formation of joint cartilage and neuron maintenance. This molecule is so critical to survival that almost all the organisms in the world need it

4. Pneumocystis Carinii This organism is a yeast-like fungus. This particular species exclusively infects humans and not other animals. This organism requires SAMe to survive, but it cannot synthesize it Pnuemocystis Carnii cysts

5. Pneumocystis Carinii (cont.) Since this organism cannot synthesize SAMe, it must scavenge it from the host. This organism can deplete up to 98% of the hosts’ blood SAMe levels.

6. Life Cycle of Pneumocystis Carinii

7. Nicotine It is a stimulant found in tobacco and the nightshade plants. It is extremely addictive Nicotine can affect the CNS and the cardiovascular adversely It is widely known as an anti-inflammatory agent.

8. Materials and Methods The materials in this experiment includes ultrapure AdoMet, pathogen free rats and a culture sample of Pneumocystis Carinii. The rats were treated with drugs to prevent any latent PCP infection. The rats then were infected with PCP and was divided into experimental and control groups.

9. Results The plasma SAMe levels of were unchanged However, lung SAMe levels of nicotine treated mice were very low compared to the control group.

10. Discussion These new findings on nicotine may be used to develop drugs to combat PCP. However, this study was done on mice and scientists have no idea whether this works the same way in humans. Another finding is that PCP cannot effectively draw SAMe from host cells directly.

11. Conclusion Nicotine is able to increase lung metabolism of SAMe Nicotine can effectively reduce PCP infections

12. Further Experiments Mimic the mechanism of action of nicotine in the lungs Try to conduct the experiment among smokers