The chemical composition of the flavors and the technical design of the vapers They influence genetics more than the frequency of consumption itself and can lead to very serious diseases such as canceras concluded by a team of researchers from the School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.
Scientists have confirmed that electronic cigarettes are relatively new and the health risks are not yet clear and the chronic diseases It will take decades to manifest, but they have warned that changes in the expression of genes related to diseases provide early clues to the harms of vaping and have provided evidence that, just as smokeis linked to changes in gene expression implicated in the development of cancer and heart and lung diseases.
And with the cellular consequences already visible and potential long-term dangers, researchers have expressed hope that their data will help regulators set stricter standards for toxic components in e-cigarettes. Today they published the results of their work in the journal Frontiers in Oncology.
People who vape regularly show altered activity in 3,124 genes in the genome compared to those who neither smoke nor vape, and while some of these changes (28.8 percent) are related to the frequency or amount of vaping, a much larger proportion (66.6 percent) is linked to the type of flavors and devices used.
Two-thirds of the changes in gene activity could be explained by the flavor of the vape and the type of device, suggesting, the researchers maintain, that the chemical composition of vaping products and the design and configuration of the devices play a fundamental role in their biological effects.
Among vapers, those who used fruit flavors or multiple flavors, as well as advanced rechargeable devices, showed more changes in gene expression compared to other groups.
For the study, the researchers recruited 35 e-cigarette users, 24 smokers and 24 people who did not use them, both men and women; All participants were healthy young adults, and the researchers used statistical methods to account for age and sex differences when analyzing the gene expression data.
The researchers also performed sophisticated bioinformatics analysis to identify the molecular processes, biological pathways, and diseases linked to the gene expression changes they observed, and concluded that among e-cigarette users, cancer was associated with the greatest number of gene expression changes, followed by endocrine disorders, gastrointestinal diseases, and neurological diseases.
The scientists have stressed that their findings are especially relevant now that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is finalizing guidelines on flavored e-cigarettes, and they have stressed the interest in evaluating products in more detail and paying more attention to flavors and device characteristics.
The work concludes that some newer devices, including some of the most advanced (known as ‘mods’) can offer higher nicotine levels than previous generation vaporizers, and that many also contain potentially toxic additives designed to make the vaping experience smoother and more attractive.
