E-cigarette users may be more sensitive to Covid-19-health

In a controlled study of smokers, nonsmokers, and e-cigarette users, researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine found that e-cigarette users showed significantly altered immune responses to the model. Influenza virus infection, Suggesting increased susceptibility to disease.

The findings, published in the American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology, show that: vaping It not only alters gene expression and protein production in respiratory cells, but also alters virus-specific antibody production.

“Many of the study participants showed more changes in their immune response in e-cigarette users than in smokers,” said Dr. Meghan Rebuli, lead author, assistant professor of UNC pediatrics and a member of the UNC Center. Says. For environmental medicine, asthma, and lung biology.

“All of these factors can adversely affect the response to the virus and immunity after infection. We used influenza as a model, which is a respiratory virus that e-cigarette users have more than nonsmokers. It suggests that you are more likely to be infected with the virus. SARS-CoV-2, The virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), “Rebuli added.

The main reasons for avoiding smoking are the risk of cancer, heart disease, emphysema, stroke, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and other lung diseases. For these reasons, researchers are also studying the potential effects of e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes are made up of thousands of chemicals, many of which are approved by the FDA but not inhaled.

However, for many years, inhalation of cigarette smoke has also been associated with an increased risk of viral infections such as influenza. Inhalation of e-cigarette aerosols is also associated with immunosuppression in the airways, especially the protective lamina propria that lines the nasal passages.

Rebuli, senior authors Ilona Jaspers, PhD, and colleagues believed that changes in the nasal mucosal immune response could alter the antiviral host defense response of e-cigarette users.

This is important because viruses, including influenza and SARS-CoV-2, have been shown to replicate intracellularly, spread throughout the respiratory system, and infect the nasal passages, which can infect others. is.

Jaspers, director of the UNC Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma and Pulmonary Biology, led a previous experiment showing that steam altered hundreds of genes in epithelial cells involved in the body’s natural immune defenses. .. In the current study, researchers wanted to study what happens when e-cigarette users are exposed to the respiratory virus.

In this study, nonsmokers, smokers, and e-cigarette users aged 18-40 years were safely tested with the Live attenuated influenza virus (LAIV) vaccine, an established model of influenza infection in the Jaspers lab. did. Innate immune response.

Before and after vaccination, researchers collected nasal epithelial lining fluid, nasal lavage fluid, nasal scrape biopsy, urine, and blood. Scientists examined markers of cytokines and chemokines, influenza-specific immunoglobulin A (IgA), immune gene expression, and viral load.

Researchers found that the amount of viral load markers did not differ between the three groups, but the expected increase in nasal epithelial lining fluid anti-LAIVIgA, a potential indicator of post-infection immune development, was in e-. I found that it didn’t happen. Tobacco users and smokers.

In addition, changes in LAIV-induced gene expression in nasal biopsies differ between smokers and e-cigarette users compared to nonsmokers, and are primarily important because of the higher number of altered genes in e-cigarette users. The expression of the immune gene was reduced. Protection against viruses and generation of immune memory.

“This is not good. I hope that IgA levels will rise during infection. It is the body’s natural way to protect itself from intruders. Here, both smoking and e-cigarettes raise IgA levels. It turns out to be a hindrance, “says Jaspers.

“The suppressed expression of important immune genes is also associated with and consistent with the overall suppression of the proper immune response,” Jasper added.

In addition, changes in the immune response between e-cigarette users and smokers can reduce the effectiveness of the vaccine in these groups.

“I don’t know if vaporizers are more susceptible to Covid-19 or if the vaccine is less effective, but I know I don’t want to see suppression of genes, proteins, and antibodies involved in the immune response. And this is what we see in the data related to smoking and the use of e-cigarettes, “says Rebuli.

(This story is published from the news agency feed without changing the text.)

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