A research team from the School OF Pharmacy at Sun Yat-sen University published a paper in the global core journal of TOXICOLOGY, "ARCHIVES OF TOXICOLOGY", pointing out that at the same dose of nicotine, e-cigarette aerosol is less harmful to the respiratory system than cigarette smoke.

The impact of electronic cigarettes and cigarettes on health has been a hot issue in the field of public health in recent years. In this study, the research team of Sun Yat-sen University for the first time compared the effects of cigarettes and e-cigarettes on lung function, inflammatory factors and protein expression in mice with the same nicotine content, filling the scientific research gaps in related fields.

The researchers selected RELX watermelon e-cigarette and a commercially available cigarette as samples, and randomly divided 32 mice into 4 groups, which were exposed to clean air, low-dose e-cigarette aerosol, high-dose e-cigarette aerosol, and cigarette smoke for 10 weeks, respectively, and analyzed their multiple indicators.

The results of pathological section of lung tissue showed that the lung coefficient of mice exposed to cigarette was significantly increased, and the shape of trachea was changed, suggesting that their respiratory system might be diseased. In contrast, mice exposed to e-cigarettes had no significant changes in lung coefficient and trachea morphology.

Lung function tests found that cigarette exposure caused significant abnormalities in a number of lung function indicators in mice, but only one indicator decreased in the e-cigarette group. At the same time, pathological results showed that both cigarettes and e-cigarettes could cause lung abnormalities in mice, but the damage caused by cigarettes was more obvious.

The detection of serum inflammatory factors and transmission electron microscopy showed that both cigarette and electronic cigarette could cause airway inflammation, but the harm degree of cigarette was greater. Even at twice the nicotine content of cigarettes, e-cigarettes caused less pathological damage to the trachea of mice.

Finally, the researchers also performed a proteomic analysis of mouse lung tissue. The results showed that the differential protein changes caused by cigarettes were more concentrated in the inflammatory pathways, while the abnormal expression caused by e-cigarettes was less, and the effect on the inflammatory signaling pathway was less.

The researchers said that the results of the study clearly show that large inhalation doses of cigarette and e-cigarette exposure are harmful to the respiratory system. However, at the same dose of nicotine, e-cigarette aerosol is less harmful to the respiratory system than cigarette smoke.

Because they do not need to be burned, e-cigarettes do not produce tar, and are therefore widely viewed by the medical community as a harm reduction alternative. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) clearly states on its website that switching from cigarettes or other combustible tobacco products to e-cigarettes may have potential benefits for adult smokers who are not pregnant.

However, due to the short time of publication, the research on electronic cigarettes is not enough. In recent years, a number of scientific research institutions and public health organizations have focused on the potential impact of e-cigarettes.

The Sun Yat-sen University research team said that this study comprehensively and systematically analyzed the relative safety of e-cigarettes at the animal level, and it is hoped that more clinical studies will be carried out in the future to objectively evaluate the long-term impact of e-cigarettes.