Leukocyte recruitment to airways by cigarette smoke and particle phase in contrast to cytotoxicity of vapor.

After hamsters had breathed fresh cigarette smoke in a miniature chamber, airways of the lung showed recruitment of polymorphonuclear leukocytes. Exposure to particles alone by removal of the vapor phase with charcoal did not change the leukocyte response. However, exposure to cigarette smoke vapor after removal of particles with Cambridge filters did not recruit leukocytes but produced nuclear and cytoplasmic vacuoles, double nuclei, and exfoliation of cells.