Department of Biomedical Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-5281, USA.
Department of Biochemistry and Cellular Biology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-5215, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Nov 6;18(21):11655. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182111655.
Smoking is an etiologic factor for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Although cigarette smoke has been extensively researched for retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cell degeneration, the potential for adverse effects on the retinal epithelium following exposure to flavored e-cigarette refill liquid has never been explored. In this preliminary study, we have examined the effects of 20 e-liquids (10 different flavored nicotine-free and 10 nicotine-rich e-liquids) used in e-cigarettes on the metabolic activity, membrane integrity, and mitochondrial membrane potential of RPE cells. Our results showed that of the flavors studied over the concentration range: 0.5, 1, and 2% for a duration of 48 h, cinnamon was the most toxic and menthol was the second most toxic, while other flavors showed lesser or no cytotoxicity. The presence of nicotine augmented cytotoxicity for cinnamon, menthol, strawberry, vanilla, and banana while for other flavors there was no synergism. Together, our results demonstrate that exposure of RPE to flavored e-cigarette refill liquids caused significant cytotoxicity and may be a risk factor for the development of retinal pathogenesis, although further in-depth studies are necessary.
吸烟是年龄相关性黄斑变性（AMD）的一个病因。尽管已经对香烟烟雾对视网膜色素上皮（RPE）细胞变性进行了广泛研究，但在接触电子烟补充液的调味剂后，对视网膜上皮细胞产生不良影响的可能性尚未被探索。在这项初步研究中，我们研究了电子烟中使用的 20 种电子烟液（10 种不同口味的无尼古丁电子烟液和 10 种富含尼古丁的电子烟液）对 RPE 细胞代谢活性、膜完整性和线粒体膜电位的影响。我们的结果表明，在所研究的浓度范围内（0.5%、1%和 2%）持续 48 小时：肉桂味是最毒的，薄荷味是第二毒的，而其他口味则显示出较小或没有细胞毒性。尼古丁的存在增加了肉桂味、薄荷味、草莓味、香草味和香蕉味的细胞毒性，而对于其他口味则没有协同作用。总之，我们的结果表明，RPE 暴露于电子烟补充液的调味剂中会导致明显的细胞毒性，可能是视网膜发病机制发展的一个危险因素，尽管还需要进一步深入的研究。
