Buring of wood, dung, and crop wastes have been linked with IAP related mortality. This study underscores the linkage by tracking data on the activation of the serine/threonine kinase Akt in airway cells and peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) due to cumulative exposures to biomass smoke. Akt is a serine/threonine protein kinase closely associated with key membrane-bound receptors and represents a convergent integration point for multiple stimuli implicated in COPD pathogenesis, according to to an early study on "Akt in the pathogenesis of COPD" by S Bozinovski, R Vlahos, M Hansen, K Liu, and GP Anderson.
The study covered 87 premenopausal non-smoking women of an average of 34 years who used to cook with wood, dung and crop wastes. The study also did a comparison with 85 women in the same age-group who cooked with cleaner fuel liquefied petroleum gas.
The study found significantly higher levels of Akt protein in PBL, airway epithelial cells, alveolar macrophages, and neutrophils in sputum of biomass-using women as opposed to those cooking on LPG stoves.
The study also found 2 to 4 times more particulate pollution in biomass-using households. The study says that its finding suggests that that chronic exposure to biomass smoke activates Akt, possibly via generation of oxidative stress.
