University of California San Diego's School of Medicine scholars recently presented a new study on e-cigarettes and vaping. According to the investigation, chronic vaping through pod-based mods could influence the inflammatory state of organs such as the heart, lungs, colon, and even the brain.
The study also showed how each flavor in vaping materials affects the response of the particular organs to many infections, including SARS-CoV-2.
UC San Diego's research on chronic vaping and its effects was the first to assess pod-based devices and flavorings from JUUL.
Chronic Vaping and Inflammatory Health
UCSD School of Medicine expert and Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System's pulmonary critical care chief Laura Crotty Alexander, who also led the study, explained in a press release that the use of pod-based e-cigs has been popular in the recent years, but we still have a limited idea about the long-term impacts of these devices on the human health.
In the United States, over 12 million individuals from the adult population are currently using vaping products. From the age group, people 18-24 years are the users with the highest rate of vaping.
Even though e-cigarettes have been on the market for quite a while, scientific studies about their effects on human functions are scarce. Most of these papers focus on the short-term impacts of vaping and older types of vape mod, pen, and juice variants.
The vape studies, in addition, only concentrate on products that have less nicotine content compared to the latest e-cigarette devices today.
Crotty Alexander's team carried out the study around the most popular brand of e-cigarette around the globe called JUUL. Alongside the product device, the experts also examined the brand's most-used flavors, mainly the mint and mango.
Effects of Pod-Based JUUL E-Cigarettes and Vape Flavors
The experiments on chronic vaping were made possible through the help of mice subjects. The animals were exposed to the flavored JUUL aerosols along with the investigation. Each subject was presented with the compound in three sessions per day. The experiment ran each day for three months before screening the mice's inflammatory activities across their various organs.
According to the authors, the brain was the most affected organ due to chronic vaping. The part showed elevated signs of inflammatory markers, with neuroinflammatory gene expression located at the brain's nucleus accumbens showing massive shifts. This region is responsible for a person's motivation and reward system.
The neuroinflammation in this area is linked to psychiatric conditions such as addiction, anxiety, and depression.
The authors said that the results are concerning, especially because many JUUL users in younger age groups have brains that are still developing.
The colon was also found with inflammatory gene expression after one month of exposure to e-cigarettes. This problem might lead to gut conditions such as gastrointestinal disease.
On the other hand, the heart was found to decrease inflammatory marker levels. However, experts said that this immunosuppression could make the organ's tissue more vulnerable to cardiac infections.
The lungs did not show any signs of increased inflammatory markers, but the authors said that more research must be done to identify other consequences of vaping on pulmonary health.
Flavors from JUUL also showed a surprising influence on the inflammatory states of the subjects' organs. When exposed to mint-flavored aerosols, the animals became more sensitive to the effects brought by bacterial pneumonia compared to the groups that inhaled mango-flavored aerosols.
The study was published in the journal eLife, titled "Effects of mango and mint pod-based e-cigarette aerosol inhalation on inflammatory states of the brain, lung, heart, and colon in mice."
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