Sub-ohm vaping increases the levels of carbonyls, is cytotoxic, and alters gene expression in human bronchial epithelial cells exposed at the air-liquid interface.

The document is a research article titled "Sub-ohm vaping increases the levels of carbonyls" published in the journal Respiratory Research in 2020. The study aimed to examine the influence of atomizer resistance and battery voltage on e-cigarette (e-cig) aerosol composition and cellular toxicity. The authors used a physiologically-relevant air-liquid interface (aLI) in vitro model to investigate the effects of cinnamon- and butter-flavored e-cig aerosols produced under sub-ohm vaping conditions on lung cells.

The study found that sub-ohm vaping increased the levels of carbonyls, which are toxic compounds, in e-cig aerosols. The authors also observed that changes in atomizer resistance and battery voltage affected the cellular toxicity of e-cig aerosols. The experiments were performed in triplicate, and the data were normalized to cell count and presented as mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM). Statistical analysis was performed using Microsoft Excel or GraphPad Prism 7 software, and comparisons between e-cig groups and respective air control groups were made by the student t-test.

The study highlights the urgent need for further investigation into the effects of e-cig devices' adjustable components on aerosol composition and toxicity, particularly in light of the rising use of e-cigs among youth and young adults.

The article also references previous studies that have investigated the effects of e-cig aerosols on lung cells, including one that found that e-cig aerosols cause dysfunction preferentially via TRPa1 receptors. additionally, the article describes the procedures used for RNa extraction, cDNa synthesis, and quantitative RT-PCR to analyze the effects of e-cig aerosols on gene expression in lung cells.

In summary, this research article provides evidence that sub-ohm vaping increases the levels of toxic carbonyls in e-cig aerosols and that changes in e-cig device settings can affect cellular toxicity. The study emphasizes the need for further investigation into the potential health risks associated with e-cig use.

Noël a, hossain E, Perveen Z, Zaman h, Penn aL. Sub-ohm vaping increases the levels of carbonyls, is cytotoxic, and alters gene expression in human bronchial epithelial cells exposed at the air-liquid interface. Respiratory research. 2020;21(1):305. doi:10.1186/s12931-020-01571-1