Research identifies protein responsible for increasing inflammation and oxidative stress

A new study has identified a protein that nicotine-free vape fluid increases in the lung, causing damage including oxidative stress, inflammation and breakdown of the blood vessels.

The research, published in the journal Microvascular Research demonstrates a range of damaging pathways when an in vitro model of the human lung was exposed to a common brand of nicotine-free e-cigarette.

E-cigarettes have become increasingly popular in recent years and are often seen as harmless alternatives to cigarette smoking. It is estimated that there are almost five million ‘vapers’ in the UK, compared to around 700,000 in 2012.

  • eran_morad@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Yeah bruh, breathing shit that isn’t air is probably not the best idea, generally speaking.

    • WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Who would’ve thought… I wonder how vapes compare to living next to a main road, and if the government will ban ICE cars and air pollution if they’re just as damaging to our lungs?

  • reddig33@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Harm more, or less than cigs? Cause cancer? These studies need to be more specific about which is worse.

    • svdasein@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      It is honestly really frustrating to see the issue of relative harm just get flat out ignored. “Vaping is bad” - you never see it compared in any sensible way to alcohol, cigarettes, formaldehyde from carpets - what have you (all of which are more or less bad). “Even drinking water can harm the body” is about as useful a statement. This is so tiresome - we’re not children.

      • norbert@kbin.social
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        11 months ago

        They can be used to quit smoking cigarettes completely and then you can ween yourself off the vape a little easier (ymmv).

        So even if vapes were worse than cigarettes (surely they’re not), in the long run it’d still be better for you if you were trying to quit.

        • svdasein@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Right! I smoked for over 30 years. I started vaping about 12 years ago. Prior to that I tried quitting numerous times - patches, lozenges, pills - none really lasted. Vaping works and it sure as hell is less harmful than the cocktail you get from old-school cigs.

          • Whirlgirl9@kbin.social
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            11 months ago

            are you me? i also quit smoking using vape. I smoked for 3 decades and finally quit smoking/vaping about 8 years ago with the help of stepping down the nicotine until i got to zero…thank goodness. Congrats on your hard fought victory svdasein.

    • Aussiemandeus@aussie.zone
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      11 months ago

      These studies are probably funded by cigarette companies and governments to push people away from vapes and back to cigarettes

  • Sabre363@sh.itjust.works
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    11 months ago

    I really wish these articles would be more clear about what kind of vaping they are talking about. Vaping weed, for example, likely has a different chemical composition but might pose similar or very different risks that the article never acknowledges.

    • lolcatnip@reddthat.com
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      11 months ago

      Weed vapes are typically just extracts from the cannabis plant, so their chemical composition should be completely different from the liquids used in nicotine vapes.

      • pureness@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        As another commentor mentioned, it would be great for these studies to include the relative harm to for example smoking cigarettes or as you mentioned vaping cannabis. Yes it is common sense anything but air in the lungs is bad, but how harmful?

    • GenderNeutralBro@lemmy.sdf.org
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      11 months ago

      I’ve seen previous studies about the flavoring used, as well. Something about how it’s a food flavoring only approved for eating, not for inhaling.

      I don’t think I’ve ever heard of nicotine itself being a major contributor.

    • chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      11 months ago

      Three vapes, all watermelon flavour, were purchased from an online retailer and contained different concentrations of nicotine: 0mg, 10mg and 20mg in a 2ml solution

      • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        11 months ago

        Where the fuck can I buy 2ml of 20mg liquid? Standard these days since the dawn of mods is 3mg or 6mg, back around 2012ish you could get 3mg, 6mg, 12mg, 18mg, or 24mg, 10 or 20mg has never been a standard. On top of that the smallest bottle I’ve seen sold is 5ml testers, who the fuck sells 2ml?!

        Even salt nic, it’s usually 25-50mg. 20mg salt nic would make sense but where the dick do I buy a 2ml bottle? That’s barely a bottle at that point it’s a damn vial, nobody sells that shit. Salt nic bottles are usuall all 30ml, never seen a 5ml, 60ml, or 120ml.

        I’m gonna need this study to link me to the online retailer, because frankly I’m not sure I believe them.

        • Onsotumenh@discuss.tchncs.de
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          11 months ago

          Probably a European pod they’re often around 2ml. Maximum nicotine concentration here is 20mg/ml independent of buying a nicotine shot for mixing liquid yourself, or buying a ready to use flavoured one. Yuul responded to this limit by increasing it’s wick size and effectively increasing nicotine levels per hit above the American levels (of course using up pods much faster is a welcome side effect).

          Edit: just look at the top sellers here for example https://www.dampfalarm.de/E-Zigaretten/Pod-Systeme/?p=1

          • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            11 months ago

            Ah, that’s dispos for ya, you’ll have to pry my mod from my cold dead hands! I still question the voracity of this study, I still question if they used some weird chinese juice that isn’t manufactured as it should be. I’d be interested to see how it compares with commercial freebase nic made well and with mine I make at home.

            • Onsotumenh@discuss.tchncs.de
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              11 months ago

              Yeah, sadly those have become the norm since they started the ridiculous vaping tax here in Germany. It started at 16ct/ml for everything that goes into a liquid independent of nicotine content (base, flavour concentrate, everything…) and its supposed to go up to 32ct/ml in 2026. This has greatly harmed the mod scene while strengthening the pod market. This was done for ‘health reasons’ making vaping less appealing for the youth, but everyone suspects the tobacco lobby influenced how the tax was set up, to profit their disposable businesses…

              • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                11 months ago

                Yeah the tobacco lobby is pushing bullshit over here too with moderate success, not that bad yet though. Also big pharma is helping because of their interest in products like chantix. Can you guys buy base and make your own juice? It sounds a lot harder than it is assuming you can get the components.

                • Onsotumenh@discuss.tchncs.de
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                  11 months ago

                  You can still get them but prices are pretty outrageous compared to before. As a result of that a lot of the smaller companies have died and a lot of the small independent neighbourhood vaping shops have closed.

                  I have just checked my bulk order from before the tax… I paid 30€ for 1l 50:50 base. Today you pay 35€ for 100ml of the same (same shop of course).

                  Edit: the irony of the whole thing is that it’s now more economic to use high nicotine ready made liquids and to not use sub ohm coils to reduce liquid throughput… Great work lawmakers!

        • dfc09@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          I’ve been to shops that’ll keep keep nicotine concentrate around mix into the liquid if you want. They can also mix the 0mg variant in to reduce nicotine concentration. It’s possible something like that happened.

          • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            11 months ago

            Hell I make my own juice, and I make 4mg, I know how solutions work, but if I were doing a scientific study I’d try to study with something you’re likely to find in the real world, and more than one type of juice. And more than one flavor, for all we know this is caused by something in Flavor Art’s watermelon flavor that could have been in all three watermelon juices, I’m still questioning their methodology.

        • shottymcb@lemm.ee
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          11 months ago

          Those are standard strengths for freebase nicotine. Nicotine salt comes in different strengths. 50mg/ml and 35mg/ml are standard where I live in the US. Elfbars usually come in 40mg/ml.

  • JJROKCZ@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Yea anything other that clean air like you find deep in the forests and prairies is bad for your lungs. Hardly news. Anything is better than American cigarettes though

      • JJROKCZ@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Many nation’s cigarettes are just tobacco in paper, not nearly as bad as American companies putting literal rat poison and formaldehyde in the mixture

  • Verdant Banana@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    the nicotine found in most vapes now days are the newer synthetic variety

    after talking to the lab responsible we were told the main difference between synthetic and real is that the synthetic does not cause cancer

    another difference is the real nicotine derived from the tobacco plant is usually sourced from India just like your kitchen spices like vanilla and is prone to contamination from ground pollution like heavy metals

    synthetic nicotine solves several problems including reducing the strain on the planet by using less resources than required for growing large crops of tobacco

    combine that with green chemistry which uses no heavy metals for a catalyst and you have a clean product

    now onto flavorings

    some such as isoamyl acetate for banana flavor are not very harmful to vape and is even used to test breathing equipment

    extensive studies some on a global scale have been done to show the varying degrees of toxicity to nontoxicity on the various flavors

    some flavorings are also good on the environment not only because of green chemistry but also with the newer technologies of reclaiming atoms and molecules from food waste

    there is lab on the east coast of the US doing just that and making chemicals some for flavoring such as isoamyl acetate which has multiple applications

    articles like this are deadest on turning back the clock on good science and good health