Home › Research › Risk genes beyond APOE
Cigarette smoking accelerated brain aging and induced pre-Alzheimer-like neuropathology in rats
Ho YS, Yang X, Yeung SC, Chiu K, Lau CF, Tsang AW, Mak JC, Chang RC.. PloS one, 2012-05-11
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Cigarette smoking has been proposed as a major risk factor for aging-related pathological changes and Alzheimer's disease (AD). To date, little is known for how smoking can predispose our brains to dementia or cognitive impairment. This study aimed to investigate the cigarette smoke-induced pathological changes in brains.
Key findings
- To date, little is known for how smoking can predispose our brains to dementia or cognitive impairment.
- This study aimed to investigate the cigarette smoke-induced pathological changes in brains.
- Male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were exposed to either sham air or 4% cigarette smoke 1 hour per day for 8 weeks in a ventilated smoking chamber to mimic the situation of chronic passive smoking.
- We found that the levels of oxidative stress were significantly increased in the hippocampus of the smoking group.
Why it matters
Male rats exposed to 4% cigarette smoke for one hour daily for eight weeks showed increased oxidative stress in the hippocampus and pre-Alzheimer-like neuropathology. This is animal research on smoking as a risk factor and does not provide a treatment, cure or prevention.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Genetics →
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 46/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (PloS one) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | PLoS ONE: journal h-index 594 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2012 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Laboratory or animal study (title names “rats”) — scores zero |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 135 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 8.4 citations a year over 16 year(s) since 2012 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 6.6× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 2 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 30 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Raymond Chuen‐Chung Chang: h-index 68 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | University of Hong Kong: institution h-index 1,069 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 22606286) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 46 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record names 8 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Ho, Y. S., Yang, X., Yeung, S. C., Chiu, K., Lau, C. F., Tsang, A. W., et al. (2012). Cigarette smoking accelerated brain aging and induced pre-Alzheimer-like neuropathology in rats. PloS one. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0036752
Vancouver
Ho YS, Yang X, Yeung SC, Chiu K, Lau CF, Tsang AW, et al. Cigarette smoking accelerated brain aging and induced pre-Alzheimer-like neuropathology in rats. PloS one. 2012. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0036752. PMID: 22606286.
BibTeX
@article{ho2012-22606286,
author = {Ho, Y. S. and Yang, X. and Yeung, S. C. and Chiu, K. and Lau, C. F. and Tsang, A. W. and Mak, J. C. and Chang, R. C.},
title = {{Cigarette smoking accelerated brain aging and induced pre-Alzheimer-like neuropathology in rats}},
journal = {PloS one},
year = {2012},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0036752},
pmid = {22606286},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0036752}
}
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here.
Later studies that cite this one
2 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references.
Related studies in Risk genes beyond APOE
Also tagged “amyloid-beta”
1,339 studies in the library carry the topic tag “amyloid-beta”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 1,339 tagged studies.