One Acute Exposure to E-Cigarette Smoke Using Various Heating Elements and Power Levels Induces Pulmonary...

Area of Science:

• Toxicology
• Pulmonary Medicine
• Cardiovascular Research

Background:

• Electronic cigarettes (eC) are often perceived as harmless, but data on acute vapor exposure effects are limited.
• Research is needed to understand the impact of varying eC heating sources and power settings on lung injury.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if acute exposure to eC vapor, generated with different heating elements and power levels, induces inflammatory changes in the lungs and heart.

Main Methods:

• Rats underwent a single, 4-hour exposure to eC vapor or clean air.
• eC devices utilized stainless steel (SS) or nichrome (NC) heating elements at low (45 W) or high (70 W) power settings.
• Animals were euthanized within 48 hours post-exposure for analysis.

Main Results:

• eC vapor exposure led to inflammatory cell accumulation in rat lungs.
• Significantly higher inflammatory cell counts were observed in the lung parenchyma of eC-exposed rats compared to controls.
• High power (70 W) exposure resulted in greater inflammatory gene expression changes in the lungs.
• eC vapor from burnt coils induced acute respiratory distress and myocarditis.

Conclusions:

• A single 4-hour eC vapor exposure, devoid of nicotine or vitamin E oil, significantly increased lung inflammation.
• Both SS and NC heating elements, at high or low power, induced adverse effects.
• Vapor generated from eC devices with burnt coils poses risks to both heart and lung health.