Electronic cigarettes and e-cigarette/vaping product use associated lung injury (EVALI)
https://doi.org/10.1016/J.prrv.2020.06.003 This review article provides background on EVALI, the e-cigarette-generated condition as seen in the US. In this article, authors “review the history of e-cigarettes and its prevalence among American youth, the EVALI outbreak and clinical presentation of EVALI patients, and recent legislative efforts to regulate e-cigarette use.” Importantly, the article provides suggestions for future research including the importance of “developing effective interventions to enable e-cigarette users to quit their habit.”
TRC Research Commentary
Wang Q, Sundar IK, Li D, et al. E-cigarette-induced pulmonary inflammation and dysregulated repair are mediated by nAChR α7 receptor: role of nAChR α7 in SARS-CoV-2 Covid-19 ACE2 receptor regulation. Respiratory Research. 21, Article number: 154. 18 June 2020; https://respiratory-research.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12931-020-01396-y
Comment: This detailed cellular study of acute e-cigarette exposure in mice shows similar inflammation and damage to lung cell repair in mice as with conventional cigarette smoking. These results which are mediated by the cell receptor nAChRα7, have implications for increased severity of Covid-19 infection. Such findings have contributed to health authorities warning that both smoking and vaping increase the likelihood of increased Covid-19 severity.
Stephen Hamann
