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Vaping renders immune cells unable to move to meet threats

Even moderate exposure to nicotine-free vapour causes suppression of neutrophil’s typical activity.

Inhaling vapour from an e-cigarette may be stopping frontline immune cells from working typically, as a new study shows that even moderate smoke exposure suppresses cell activity. 

The findings are published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and suggest that inhaling e-cigarette smoke could be damaging neutrophils, the first line of defence the human immune system has. The findings are important as previous research has shown that damage caused to neutrophil by cigarette smoking can lead to long-term lung damage.

Researchers from the University of Birmingham took blood samples from healthy donors who had never smoked or vaped. The team then exposed neutrophils taken from the blood to 40 puffs of unflavoured vape, which previous studies have shown is a low daily exposure; with half of the samples were exposed to nicotine-containing vapour while the rest to nicotine-free alternatives.

E-cigarettes are a proven, lower-harm, tool to help smokers quit smoking but our data adds to current evidence that e-cigarettes are not harmless and highlights the need to fund longer-term studies in vapers.

Dr Aaron Scott, Associate Professor in Respiratory Science at the University of Birmingham

Results of the tests showed that in both the nicotine and non-nicotine groups, the neutrophils remained alive but were stuck in place, rendering them incapable of effectively tackling threats to the body.

Further experiments with neutrophils exposed to e-cigarette vapour suggest a build-up of a microfilament within the cells which are unable to re-arrange themselves properly is driving the suppression of the cells normal function. 

Actin is usually found as small filaments within cells and rearrange themselves into a network to help a cell change its shape. This function is used by neutrophils so that they can move towards and surround threats to destroy them. 

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