Introduction and objectivesElectronic cigarette usage or “vaping” has risen exponentially in recent years in smokers and ex-smokers. Published data suggests that vaping e-cigarette liquid (ECL) may not be as benign as propounded by e-cigarette companies which are increasingly owned by “big tobacco”. Much of the current literature has focused on the effect of non-vaporised ECL – such studies do not fully reflect the exposure of the user, as the process of vaping causes chemical changes in ECL. To investigate the effect of unvaped ECL and vaped e-cig condensate (ECVC) using our novel system, with and without nicotine, on alveolar macrophage (AM) viability and immune responses.MethodsWe developed a novel method to produce ECVC to allow direct comparison with unvaped ECL. Nicotine concentration as assessed by GFID was 31 mg/ml in ECL and 26 mg/ml in ECVC. AMs were obtained from lung resection tissue and treated with ECVC/ECL ± nicotine. Cell viability was assessed by cell titre aqueous assay, apoptosis, necrosis and markers of macrophage phenotype (CD68, CD80, CD163, CD206) were assessed by flow cytometry. IL-8 release by AMs was assessed by ELISA.ResultsAM culture with ECL or ECVC resulted in dose dependent reduction in cell viability. ECVC was cytotoxic at lower concentrations than ECL (0.8% ECVC vs 5 %ECL, n = 6). 24 hour culture with 1% ECVC resulted in a 5fold increase in AM apoptosis and 2 fold increase in necrosis compared with 1%ECL (p = 0.079, n = 5). Nicotine containing ECVC caused more apoptosis vs nicotine free ECVC (27.2% vs 13.4%, (p = 0.0079,n = 4). Culture with 0.6%ECVC significantly increased supernatant levels of IL-8 compared with 1% ECL (p = 0.015, n = 4). ECVC was also found to affect macrophage phenotype, showing both nicotine dependent/independent regulations of markers of macrophage m1/m2 polarisation (CD80 p = 0.0357, CD163 p = 0.0179, CD206 p = 0.0357, n = 6).ConclusionsOur novel system creates ECVC which is sterile, minimises loss of nicotine and prevents dilution of the vapour. Vaped E-cigarette condensate is significantly more toxic to AMs than non-vaped e cigarette liquid. Furthermore, ECVC with nicotine is significantly more toxic than ECVC without Nicotine. Effects shown on inflammatory cytokine production and markers of macrophage polarisation indicate both nicotine dependent and independent effects of ECVC on alveolar macrophages.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is an alarming health problem responsible for a large percentage of fatality worldwide. Current treatment is limited and research is ongoing to address this serious health problem. As mortality rates rise, the demand for novel therapeutics has pressed the pharmaceutical industry to explore alternative approaches for CVD drug development. Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) hold great promise in bringing new effective cardiovascular treatments to the market through providing an improved testing platform for pre-clinical drug screening. Both stem cells derived from pre-implantation human embryos or somatic cells by reprogramming are under intense investigation for their potentially valuable attributes of cell renewal and pluripotency. This approach aims to overcome the lack of appropriate human cardiac disease models for toxicology testing by providing a novel system that is scalable, reproducible and from an inexhaustible source. Here we review the opportunities for cardiomyocytes derived from human stem cells in the field of cardiovascular drug development.
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