Queen's Study | Are E-cigarettes Really Safer Than Traditional Cigarettes?

Queen's Study | Are e-cigarettes really safer than traditional cigarettes?

Although many people believe that e-cigarettes are safer and less harmful to the human body than traditional cigarettes, researchers at the School of Pharmacy at Queen's University in the UK have studied the effects of traditional cigarette smoke and e-cigarette vapor on lung disease-causing bacteria After making a comparison of the effects, it is concluded that not only traditional cigarettes may cause acute pneumonia, but also e-cigarettes containing nicotine may cause disease.

The researchers exposed Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the sample group to cigarette smoke extracts and e-cigarette vapor extracts, respectively. Cultured in the environment of smoke vapor extract. They found that cigarette smoke and e-cigarette vapor appeared to have no adverse effect on the growth of these disease-causing bacteria, but the extracts stimulated the formation of disease-causing bacteria biofilms, which did not occur in the control bacteria. Biofilms are aggregates of one or more types of microorganisms that protect bacteria and are highly resistant to antibiotics and host immune defense mechanisms, causing persistent infections and making disease treatment more difficult.

To assess whether the virulence of the bacteria changed after exposure to cigarette smoke extracts and e-cigarette vapor extracts, the researchers injected these bacteria into the larvae of the experimental subjects Melonella mellonella to test the impact of bacterial infection on larval survival. The experimental data showed that in the environment of cigarette smoke or e-cigarette vapor extract, the survival rate of these bacteria-infected G. mellonella was reduced compared with the G. mellonella infected with control bacteria.

In follow-up experiments, the researchers also found that bacteria exposed to cigarette smoke or e-cigarette vapor extracts caused human lung cells to secrete large amounts of interleukin-8, triggering severe inflammation. Deirdre Gilpin, the head of the study, said: "Experimental data have repeatedly shown that e-cigarette vapor and traditional cigarette smoke have similar effects and effects on lung pathogenic bacteria. Therefore, the effect of e-cigarette vapor on lung pathogens and traditional cigarette smoke similar."

Professor Jose Bengoechea, director of the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine and co-author of the study, said: "This study by Queen's University has major public health implications. E-cigarettes, like traditional cigarettes, may accelerate bacterial infections. , enhance bacterial toxicity, and have adverse effects on lung function, which needs to attract wider attention from the society."

Friends, do you still have friends and relatives who believe in the rumor that "e-cigarettes are harmless"? Tell them the truth now!