E-Cigarette Smoking Revealed To Cause Similar DNA Damage By Normal Tobacco Cigarettes

As carcinogens found in cigarettes are known to cause lung cancer, scientists discover that it does damage in one’s DNA as well. The studies also revealed that e-cigarettes cause the same damage to the DNA when compared to normal tobacco usage.

According to Business Standard, researchers from the University of Connecticut assessed the effects of e-cigarette smoking in the DNA through their new electro-optical screening device. The 3D printed device was identified to observe the interaction between carcinogen and DNA. The method then showed newly formed metabolites from the samples obtained from the e-cigarette and tobacco.

The team then gathered 20, 60, and 100 puffs from e-cigarettes as it was also said that the researchers based 20 puffs from a cigarette on being equivalent to one tobacco cigarette. The study then identified that the DNA damage increased for every number of puffs from the e-cigarette. The technique used to gather samples from the e-cigarette and tobacco was said to be called artificial inhalation technique.

"From the results of our study, we can conclude that e- cigarettes have as much potential to cause DNA damage as unfiltered regular cigarettes," a postdoctoral researcher from the University of Connecticut and study lead author, Karteek Kadimisetty concluded. The study was published in the journal ACS Sensors.

On the other hand, Science Daily reported that another study supported that cigarettes do harm to the DNA indeed. The study conducted by researchers from the University of North Carolina Health Care discovered a way to effectively map the DNA damage at high resolution, which is caused by cigarette smoking.

"This is a carcinogen that accounts for about 30 percent of the cancer deaths in the United States, and we now have a genome-wide map of the damage it causes," Sarah Graham Kenan Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at UNC's School of Medicine, Aziz Sancar, MD, Ph.D. explained. The study involved two methods. The first through ultraviolet light detection while the second was described to be the common chemo drug, cisplatin.

Nonetheless, the team developed the technique to map the parts of the DNA damaged by the major chemical carcinogen, benzo[α]pyrene found in cigarettes. Sancar and his colleagues then believed that their method would aid in raising awareness regarding the dangers of cigarette smoking.