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JUUL e-cig vapour causes changes in mouse lung immune cells, genes and protein levels

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Peer-reviewed: This work was reviewed and scrutinised by relevant independent experts.

Experimental study: At least one thing in the experiment was changed to see if it had an impact on the subjects (often people or animals) – eg: changing the amount of time mice spend on an exercise wheel to find out what impact it has on weight loss.

Animals: This is a study based on research on whole animals.

Canadian scientists exposed mice to vapour from JUUL e-cigarettes, a popular US brand among young people, and found it caused changes in the animals' pulmonary immune cell composition and altered gene and protein levels in their lungs. Although the worst effects were seen with prolonged exposure to JUUL vapour, even low exposure had significant impacts, the scientists say. The findings highlight our lack of knowledge about the long-term effects of vaping, and show that these products are not harmless and may lead to lung damage, they conclude.

Journal/conference: The FASEB journal

Link to research (DOI): 10.1096/fj.202201392R

Organisation/s: McGill University, Canada

Funder: See paper for funding details.

Media release

From: Wiley

How do e-cigarettes affect the lungs?

New research published in The FASEB Journal indicates that e-cigarettes can cause cellular and molecular changes in the lungs. Specifically, prolonged inhalation of e-cigarette aerosols by mice caused changes in the animals’ pulmonary immune cell composition and altered gene and protein levels in the lungs. 

Investigators found that even low exposure to aerosols from JUUL—a brand of e-cigarettes popular with youth and young adults—had significant impacts.

“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, PhD, of McGill University, in Montreal, Quebec.

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