Chronic E-Cigarette Use Increases Neutrophil Elastase and Matrix Metalloprotease Levels in the Lung
Ghosh A, Coakley RD, Ghio AJ, Muhlebach MS, Esther CR Jr, Alexis NE, Tarran R. Chronic E-Cigarette Use Increases Neutrophil Elastase and Matrix Metalloprotease Levels in the Lung. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2019 Aug 7. doi: 10.1164/rccm.201903-0615OC.
Electronic cigarettes disrupt lung enzymes and immunity to increase emphysema risk
“Researchers inserted bronchoscopes into the lungs of 14 e-cigarette users and measured levels of enzymes in their lungs. They found high levels of protease, an enzyme that, when too high, causes emphysema by essentially dissolving lung tissue. The levels were as high as observed in smokers.
They also studied the effect of nicotine on cultured immune cells from lungs and found that higher levels of nicotine produced more proteases.
These findings challenge the conventional wisdom among e-cigarette enthusiasts (and the FDA) that e-cigarettes are safer than cigarettes and that nicotine per se does not have any adverse health effects beyond being an addictive drug.”
Explanation of this research was taken from here
