Tehran University of Medical Sciences Iranian Journal of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology 1735-1502 19 1 2020 02 01 45 55 Mohammad Amin Momeni-Moghaddam Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran AND Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Gholamreza Asadikaram Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran AND Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Center, Institute of Basic and Clinical Physiology Sciences, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Mohammad Hadi Nematollahi Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran AND Herbal and Traditional Medicines Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Mojdeh Esmaeili Tarzi Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran AND Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Sanaz Faramarz-Gaznagh Pathology and Stem Cell Research Center, Afzalipour Faculty of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Abbas Mohammadpour-Gharehbagh Department of Clinical Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran Mohammad Kazemi Arababadi Immunology of Infectious Diseases Research Center, Research Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran AND Department of Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Paramedicine, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran 2019 09 02 2019 09 19 Cigarette smoking and opium use are risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD). It has been known that scavenger receptors such as CD36 and CD68 play critical roles in the pathogenesis of CAD. CD9, as a member of the tetraspanin, has been shown to interact with scavenger receptors. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of these risk factors on expression levels of CD9, CD36, and CD68 on the THP-1 cell line. The THP-1 cell line treated with cigarette smoke extract (CSE( and opium, both individually and combinatory, in 24 h incubation. The protein and mRNA levels of CD9, CD36, and CD68 were evaluated by flow cytometry and quantitative reverse transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) techniques, respectively. CD36 and CD68 mRNA and protein expression levels were significantly increased in the cells treated with cigarette smoke extract compared to the control (p<0.001 in mRNA expression levels and p=0.016 and p=0.012 in protein expression levels, respectively). The CSE increased the level of CD9 protein expression compared to the control group (p=0.041) on the human macrophage cell line THP-1. No significant differences were observed in the CD9, CD36, and CD68 gene expression and at the protein levels between opium-treated THP-1 cells and controls. In conclusion, cigarettes by increasing the levels of CD36, CD68, and CD9 can be a risk factor in the development of many inflammatory diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung carcinoma. https://ijaai.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijaai/article/view/2505