Researchers have discovered that JUUL vape exposure changed the levels of immune cells, genes, and proteins in mice’s lungs.
By heating a liquid that contains nicotine into a vapor, e-cigarettes, also known as vapes, provide nicotine to the lungs. But the liquid usually has other ingredients as well, like flavorings, vegetable glycerin, and propylene glycol.
E-cigarettes have grown in popularity among young people even though they might help tobacco users who wish to stop. According to the CDC, more than 2.5 million young people reported using e-cigarettes in 2022.
On the other hand, little is understood about how vaping affects lung health.
A study published on January 25 in the journal Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) may offer more clues about how e-cigarettes affect lung tissue.
For four weeks, mice were given either regular room air, a mixture of vaporized propylene glycol (PG) and vegetable glycerin (VG), or mango-flavored JUUL brand e-cigarettes with 59 mg/ml of nicotine.
The mice in the JUUL and PG/VG groups received a puff regimen that involved three daily 20-minute exposures for four weeks, or roughly three years of exposure for humans.
The researchers discovered that even modest, continuous exposure to JUUL aerosols raised inflammatory cells in the lung tissue after analyzing the rodent’s lungs. Long-term inhalation of e-cigarette aerosols also changed the levels of genes and proteins in the lungs and changed the composition of immune cells in the respiratory system.
Additionally, the team discovered that exposure to JUUL changed protein levels in male and female mice in different ways.
The findings lead the authors to hypothesize that e-cigarettes may significantly alter the lungs’ cellular and molecular makeup.
“The health consequences of vaping are not known. Our results show that inhalation of the vapor generated by a popular brand of e-cigarette causes widespread changes inside the lungs, data that further highlight that these products are not inert and may lead to lung damage if used long term,” said corresponding author Carolyn J. Baglole, Ph.D, from McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, in a news release.
However, the study has certain shortcomings. For instance, it is uncertain whether the findings would hold true for people because the researchers employed mice. Furthermore, the authors propose that additional research with longer exposure times will shed more light on the possible lung damage brought on by long-term JUUL use.