Vaping does not increase the risk of contracting pneumonia like combustible tobacco does, according to a new study
Researchers at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette infected mice with a pneumonia strain that commonly affects young children and over-65s.
The mice were then exposed to either cigarette smoke, e-cigarette vapour with nicotine, e-cigarette vapour without nicotine or nothing.
The cigarette smoke affected the expression of more than 1,000 genes, which made the rodents much more susceptible to lung infection.
However, the e-cigarette vapour with nicotine only switched on 264 genes and the nicotine-free vapour just 14.
This means that the cigarette vapour had no impact on the likelihood of a gene to cause infection.
Dr Ritwij Kulkarni, assistant professor of immunology at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, said:
“Interestingly, neither nicotine containing nor nicotine free e-cigarette vapor altered the ability of pneumococci to cause lung infection in a mouse model of infection.”
“Our work is part of a long series of observations coming from a number of research labs trying to define what effects e-cigarette vapor exposure may have on human health, and to differentiate between the effects of flavoring chemicals and nicotine.”
Pneumonia accounts for 29,000 UK deaths each year – the third greatest cause of death from lung disease after COPD and lung cancer.
In the US, the condition causes 50,000 deaths.
The report said:
“Exposure to cigarette smoke is a key risk factor for pneumonia because it affects the physiology and immune responses of the respiratory tract and augments the virulence of pathogens colonizing the nasopharyngeal mucosa.”
Photo by Thomas Bjornstad on Unsplash
