Figure 2.

Damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMP) protein, high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), and ASC, the adaptor protein of the NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome in plasma (colored online). A and B: profiles of HMGB1 and ASC extracted from the plasma of all subjects before (pre, blue arrow) and after (post, red arrow) e-cigarette (e-cig) vaping. Solid black arrow denotes the point in time of e-cig aerosol inhalation. HMGB1 and ASC were assayed using quantitative ELISA and quantified using reference curves of standards provided by the manufacturer (see materials and methods). C and D: box and whiskers plots of HMGB1 and ASC pre- and postvaping, plotted in log scale. Group average and median are indicated by white circle and horizontal bar, respectively; ***P < 0.0005.