Chris Pascoe, PhD
University of Manitoba and Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB
E-cigarette use in youth is on the rise with 25% people reporting daily use. Due to the infancy of e-cigarettes, little is known about the long-term consequences of these devices or whether regular use leads to the development of chronic disease later in life. Animal and cell model studies suggest that vaping increases mucus production and promotes cellular transcriptome changes that align with those seen in asthma and COPD. However, we currently lack data on whether regular e-cigarette use by humans is associated with changes in the lung transcriptome. Using healthy lung tissue collected during lung resection to repair a spontaneous pneumothorax, we profiled changes in the lung transcriptome related to e-cigarette use in a population of otherwise healthy young adults (mean age ~26 years old). We find that daily e-cigarette use in these individuals is associated with alterations in the abundance of genes that have previously been associated with chronic respiratory diseases, including organization of the extracellular matrix. Our data suggests that chronic use of e-cigarette devices could lead to the development of chronic respiratory disease that would represent a significant burden to the health of Canadians.
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this presentation, attendees will be able to:
- Understand how e-cigarette use impacts the molecular phenotype of the lung (transcriptome); and
- Understand how e-cigarette use alters the level of circulating cytokines and chemokines.
