smoking and brain neoplasm: an immunohistochemical data evaluating caspase-3 and mmp-2 in rat brain

Background and aim: smoking has been extensively investigated in oncology, and controversial associations with brain tumor incidence have been reported. caspase-3 and matrix metalloproteinases (mmps) belong to an important cascade in tumor vasculogenesis. we aim to study the smoking impact on these signaling molecules in nontumoral rat brain tissue.methods and materials/patients: a total of 60 wistar rats were divided into two groups: treatment (cigarette smoke/electronic cigarette) and control groups with subgroups of male and female rats. after general anesthesia and decapitation, their brains were collected, and 3-μm thick coronal sections were prepared. following immunohistochemical staining with rabbit anti-mmp-2 and anti-caspase-3 antigens, protein expressions were analyzed by selecting two fields at 400x magnification.results: our data suggest that the expression of mmp-2 was not significantly different between the studied groups. however, the significant inductive activity of cigarette smoking was observed on caspase-3.conclusion: cigarette smoking indicates pro-tumoral signaling impact in normal tissue with activation of caspase-3 in rat brain tissue.