Chronic and acute effects of different forms of smoking and vaping on endothelial function in animals. (A) B-mode Doppler ultrasound in vivo data from the carotid artery of mice under anaesthesia (inhaled isoflurane) before, during (at ∼4.5 months), and after 8 months of chronic exposure to electronic cigarette (E-cig) vapour and reference tobacco (3R4F) cigarette smoke. Left: significant increase in arterial stiffness [measured as pulse wave velocity (PWV)] for E-cig and 3R4F groups following 8-month exposure. Right: significantly greater change in PWV (translating to greater arterial stiffness) after 8 months in E-cig- and 3R4F-exposed than control (air-exposed) mice. Slight, non-significant, rise in PWV in control mice following 8 months is consistent with the normal aging effect. n = 5–8 mice/group. *P < 0.05 vs. air. (B) Ex vivo dose–response curves for phenylephrine (Left) and methacholine (Right), obtained from thoracic aorta ring segments following 8 months of exposure to E-cig vapour, reference tobacco (3R4F) cigarette smoke, and filtered air. α-Adrenergic vasoconstrictor response was greater (Left), while the endothelium-mediated vasodilatory response was impaired (Right), following 8 months of exposure to E-cig vapour and 3R4F cigarette smoke. Response to sodium nitroprusside was not altered or different between groups (not shown). n = 5 mice/group. *P < 0.05 vs. air. Adopted from ref.78 with permission of the publisher. Copyright © 2018, The American Physiological Society. (C) FMD was impaired by acute exposure to JUUL aerosol, previous generation e-cig aerosol, and Marlboro Red cigarette smoke. FMD after 5 min of exposure is shown. Coloured lines denote individual rats. Horizontal black bars denote the mean of the respective groups. P-values are derived from paired two-tailed t-tests. (D) Serum levels (ng/mL) of nicotine and cotinine from sera collected after 20 min of exposure. *P < 0.001 compared to air group. §
P < 0.001 compared to JUUL. ‘Previous Gen’ means previous generation. Adopted from ref.79 Permission granted by Tobacco Regulatory Science Group to use figures. Rao P, Liu J, Springer ML. JUUL and combusted cigarettes comparably impair endothelial function. Tob Regul Sci 2020;6:30-37.