Division of Exercise Physiology, School of Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA.
West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA.
Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Jun 16;24(12):10208. doi: 10.3390/ijms241210208.
Despite claims of safety or harm reduction for electronic cigarettes (E-cig) use (also known as vaping), emerging evidence indicates that E-cigs are not likely safe, or necessarily safer than traditional cigarettes, when considering the user's risk of developing vascular dysfunction/disease. E-cigs are different from regular cigarettes in that E-cig devices are highly customizable, and users can change the e-liquid composition (such as the base solution, flavors, and nicotine level). Since the effects of E-cigs on the microvascular responses in skeletal muscle are poorly understood, we used intravital microscopy with an acute (one-time 10 puff) exposure paradigm to evaluate the individual components of e-liquid on vascular tone and endothelial function in the arterioles of the gluteus maximus muscle of anesthetized C57Bl/6 mice. Consistent with the molecular responses seen with endothelial cells, we found that the peripheral vasoconstriction response was similar between mice exposed to E-cig aerosol or cigarette smoke (i.e., 3R4F reference cigarette); this response was not nicotine dependent, and endothelial cell-mediated vasodilation was not altered within this acute exposure paradigm. We also report that, regardless of the base solution component [i.e., vegetable glycerin (VG)-only or propylene glycol (PG)-only], the vasoconstriction responses were the same in mice with inhalation exposure to 3R4F cigarette smoke or E-cig aerosol. Key findings from this work reveal that some component other than nicotine, in inhaled smoke or aerosol, is responsible for triggering peripheral vasoconstriction in skeletal muscle, and that regardless of one's preference for an E-cig base solution composition (i.e., ratio of VG-to-PG), the acute physiological response to blood vessels appears to be the same. The data suggest that vaping is not likely to be 'safer' than smoking towards blood vessels and can be expected to produce and/or result in the same adverse vascular health outcomes associated with smoking cigarettes.
尽管声称电子烟（也称为蒸气烟）的使用具有安全性或减少危害的作用，但新出现的证据表明，在考虑使用者发生血管功能障碍/疾病的风险时，电子烟不太可能安全，或者未必比传统香烟更安全。电子烟与普通香烟不同，电子烟设备具有高度可定制性，用户可以改变电子烟液的组成（例如基础溶液、口味和尼古丁含量）。由于电子烟对骨骼肌微循环反应的影响知之甚少，我们使用活体显微镜和急性（一次性 10 口）暴露范式来评估电子烟液的各个成分对麻醉 C57Bl/6 小鼠臀大肌动静脉的血管张力和内皮功能的影响。与内皮细胞的分子反应一致，我们发现，暴露于电子烟气溶胶或香烟烟雾（即 3R4F 参考香烟）的小鼠之间的外周血管收缩反应相似；这种反应与尼古丁无关，并且内皮细胞介导的血管舒张在这种急性暴露范式中没有改变。我们还报告说，无论基础溶液成分如何[即仅蔬菜甘油（VG）或仅丙二醇（PG）]，在吸入 3R4F 香烟烟雾或电子烟气溶胶的情况下，小鼠的血管收缩反应相同。这项工作的主要发现揭示了吸入烟雾或气溶胶中除尼古丁以外的某些成分，负责引发骨骼肌的外周血管收缩，并且无论个人对电子烟基础溶液成分（即 VG 与 PG 的比例）的偏好如何，对血管的急性生理反应似乎是相同的。这些数据表明，蒸气烟不太可能比吸烟对血管更安全，并且可以预期会产生和/或导致与吸烟相关的相同的不良血管健康后果。
