Vaping creates a “slime cloak” in the mouth in record time, experiments show

Yellowing of smoker’s mouth, unhealthy composition is not very attractive result Cigarettes new research suggests mouth vapers May be at risk: discolored gums or teeth may not be on the list Top concern For those who smoke, they have a bacterial “slime cloak” to consider.

the study Release Wednesday of the journal Scientific progress For healthy e-cigarette users, vaping Oral microbiome, A community of about 700 bacterial species that live in the mouth. The stress creates a “pathogen-rich” environment. Periodontitis – A type of severe periodontal disease.

Stressing the oral microbiome is the first step to another problem, senior authors say Purnima McMar, Professor of Faculty of Dentistry, Ohio State University.

Kumar explains that when bacteria in the oral flora are exposed to steam, they cover themselves with a layer of mucus. The “slime cloak” makes it difficult for healthy bacteria to attach to the colony, but does not prevent the pathogenic features from establishing themselves. This creates a more powerful environment.

“Most importantly, these changes happen within 3-12 months of vaping,” Kumar says. Reverse. “This is the fastest change [to the oral microbiome] The human behavior we have observed so far [including] Diet, antibiotic use, smoking, [and] Hookah. “

She explains that these mucous cloaks can provoke a “huge reaction from the immune system,” which can lead to long-term consequences, but the findings are so new that these results are currently unknown. I’m not sure.

What does the steam mouth look like? – Kumar and her colleagues found that 25 smokers, 25 non-smokers, 20 vapors, 25 former smokers who replaced their habits with e-cigarettes, and just under the gums of 28 dual-users. Plaque samples were collected. Smokers report smoking about 10 cigarettes a day. vapers used e-cigarettes daily for at least 3 months and used about 1 pod (or 1 mL e-liquid) per day.

At vapers, the team found that 284 genes (bacteria expressed in the mouth) were enriched. This ultimately served as a signal that vaping sent the bacterium into a stress response mode, contributing to its mucus layer formation. Studies show that the layer forms in 24 hours.

The team also found that both vapers and the smoker’s mouth had elevated levels of certain inflammatory cytokines. Immune reaction For activities.

“But at a molecular level, they lived on the edge.”

Importantly, the team found that different types of inflammatory pathways are activated in vapers and smokers. That is, both activities are likely to lead to inflammation, but the consequences of that inflammation can be very different for vapors as opposed to smokers,

“Evaporation can cause a variety of illnesses different from those seen with smoking, due to different inflammatory signals and their intensity,” she says.

At this time, it is not entirely clear what the consequences of this inflammation will have on vapers. In particular, slime cloaks that cause movement changes are unfamiliar with those found in these particular bacterial communities in the mouth.

“Our immune system can react to it in ways we don’t know, causing illnesses not commonly seen in the mouth,” she says.

What causes vaper’s mouth to change? – At this point, the team suggests that it is not the nicotine content or flavor, but the two components of the electronic liquid that are causing the strange and unique changes in the mouth of the vapor.

team is Propylene glycol and glycerolFeels like smoking, with two odorless agents that produce an electronic cigarette “throat hit”.

When the bacterial community was exposed to nicotine-free aerosols, the team found that the film still tended to spread. This suggests that another component of the aerosol is spurring its action. The team proposes that propylene glycol and glycerol are sugar alcohols that may act as nutrient sources for bacteria trying to form biofilms.

The evidence is indirect at this point, but their work argues that propylene glycol and glycerol have been identified as the “key catalysts” behind the structural transformation of vapor into a microbiome.

What do these changes tell us? – Past studies have already shown that vaping can Change A microbiome in the mouth, which eventually leads to immune system dysfunction. Oral microbiome plays a role in conditions affecting distant lung regions of the body – oral bacterial changes have been suggested as a diagnostic method Irritable bowel For example, the syndrome.

Kumar describes the oral microbiome as a “canary of coal mining”. In these terms, a mucus-covered bacterium is equivalent to a canary alerting an impending depression. I’m not sure what the long-term impact is, but these vaping-related changes could be a sign of worse.

“The subjects of this study were young and healthy, with no signs of clinical illness,” Kumar said.

Overview: Six percent of Americans, including three million high school students, use electronic cigarettes that contain potentially toxic substances, volatile organic compounds, and metals. We present the first human study on the effects of e-cigarette exposure in the oral cavity. By investigating both immune inflammatory responses and microbial functional dynamics, clinically healthy e-cigarette users, representing patients with severe periodontitis, overexpressed pathogens, a higher pathogenic signature, and increased vigor. We have found proinflammatory signals. Validation of these findings using RNA sequencing and confocal and electron microscopy indicates that carbon-rich glycol / glycerol vehicles are important catalysts for converting biofilm architecture within 24 hours. Finally, a machine-learning classifier trained on e-cigarette metagenomic signatures identified as e-cigarette users both in individuals who quit smoking using e-cigarettes and in individuals who used both e-cigarettes and tobacco. This study questions the story of electronic cigarette safety and harm reduction promoted by advertising campaigns.