Titled, “P355 – Comparable Impairment Of Vascular Endothelial Function By A Wide Range Of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Devices,” the study was presented at the American Heart Association’s Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Scientific Sessions 2021.
The research team exposed 11 groups of rats with eight rats in each group, to e-cig vapour, cigarette smoke and clean air, and measured their flow-mediated dilation (FMD), an indicator of endothelial function and overall blood vessel health, by ultrasound.
News-Medical said the researchers reported the following findings:
- “After only one five-minute session of exposure, endothelial function in the rats was acutely impaired by aerosols from all vaping products. Vessel dilation fell between 40% and 67% for all groups except the rats exposed to the clean air.
- This blood vessel impairment in vaping products was comparable to the impairment caused by traditional cigarettes (67%).”
Comparing HTPs, Vapes and Cigarettes
Despite all the official data indicating the relative safety of e-cigarettes, these findings led to the conclusion that vaping and heated tobacco products are as harmful as cigarettes. When you inhale a suspension of particles or a mist, whether it is from tobacco or marijuana, whether it’s smoke or aerosol, it all has the same effect. Our research reinforces the previous findings that vaping is not without harm, and it underscores the importance of counseling patients about the risks of vaping because it does affect cardiovascular function,” said senior study author Matthew L. Springer, Ph.D., Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine.
The research team also collected blood samples from the rats to measure the presence of nicotine in their blood. They found that the blood-nicotine concentration was 8.7 times higher in the rats exposed to heated tobacco products (HTPs) than in vaping products.
“We were not surprised when we saw the results for the heated tobacco products and previous generation e-cigarettes, however, we were somewhat surprised to discover that the new ultrasonic vaping device also impaired flow-mediated dilation,” said lead study author Poonam Rao, M.D., a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco.
