Figure 2.
E-liquids stimulated the expression of inflammatory cytokines in HMEEC-1. Cells were treated with tobacco-flavored e-liquid and menthol-flavored e-liquid at the IC50 concentration for 24 h. Quantitative real-time PCR was performed to evaluate inflammatory cytokine gene expression levels. The expression levels of COX-2 and TNF-α increased when cells were exposed to the e-liquids, and the mRNA expression of cytokines was significantly elevated in the tobacco-flavored e-liquid group (p < 0.05).