ReviewThe Journal of physiology2020
E-cigarettes, nicotine, the lung and the brain: multi-level cascading pathophysiology.
Review in The Journal of physiology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
39 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 78 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence and determinants of e-cigarette use in South Asia: a systematic review.BMJ global health · 2025Pooled it
- Paternal Nicotine/Ethanol/Caffeine Mixed Exposure Induces Offspring Rat Dysplasia and Its Potential "GC-IGF1" Programming Mechanism.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Pooled it
- Integrating network toxicology, machine learning, and single-cell sequencing systems to analyze autophagy core genes in lung adenocarcinoma.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2026Article
- To Vape or Not to Vape: Oral Health in the Age of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems and Electronic Non-Nicotine Delivery Systems.International dental journal · 2026Review
- Comparative toxicity of menthol- and tobacco-flavored electronic cigarette constituents inducing inflammation, epithelial barrier dysfunction, and nicotinic acetylcholine receptor modulation in the absence of nicotine.Toxicology reports · 2026Article
- Co-occurrence of health risk behaviors and depression in the Brazilian population: analysis of a population-based survey (Vigitel, 2023).Revista brasileira de epidemiologia = Brazilian journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Attitudinal and social factors associated with e-cigarette use among students in formal and non-formal educational settings in Chiang Mai, Thailand.Frontiers in public health · 2026Observational
- Molecular Effect of Tobacco on Genetic, Epigenetic, and Metabolic Pathways During Cancer Progression.Cureus · 2026Review
- Association of Childhood Asthma with the Concept of Exposomics: A Short Review.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2025Review
- Prospective associations of subjective and objective neighborhood disadvantage with cannabis and nicotine vaping among Southern California adolescents.Health & place · 2025Article
- Magnesium and Zinc in Schizophrenia.Biomedicines · 2025Review
- Metabolic Alterations in Human Post-Mortem Frontal Cortex and Cerebrospinal Fluid Associated With High Levels of Nicotine Metabolite Cotinine.Addiction biology · 2025Article
- Analysis of physicians' statements on electronic cigarettes in YouTube videos in Türkiye: a thematic content analysis.BMC public health · 2025Article
- MMP12 deficiency attenuates menthol e-cigarette plus house dust-mite effects on pulmonary iron homeostasis and oxidative stress.Respiratory research · 2025Article
- The rodent electronic nicotine delivery system: Apparatus for voluntary nose-only e-cigarette aerosol inhalation.Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior · 2025Article
- Dual Regulation of Nicotine on NLRP3 Inflammasome in Macrophages with the Involvement of Lysosomal Destabilization, ROS and α7nAChR.Inflammation · 2025Article
- Quality Assessment of Guidelines on Tobacco Cessation: A Systematic Review.Tobacco use insights · 2025Review
- Behavioral and neurochemical alterations induced by long-term exposure to tobacco heating system emissions in rats.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
- Article
- Use of oral moist tobacco (snus) in puberty and its association with asthma in the population-based RHINESSA study.BMJ open respiratory research · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Tobacco smoking is highly addictive and causes respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease and multiple types of cancer. Electronic-cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are non-combustible tobacco alternatives that aerosolize nicotine and flavouring agents in a propylene glycol-vegetable glycerine vehicle. They were originally envisaged as a tobacco cessation aid, but whether or not they help people to quit tobacco use is controversial. In this review, we have compared and contrasted what is known regarding the effects of nicotine on the lungs vs. the effects of nicotine in the brain in the context of addiction. Critically, both combustible tobacco products and e-cigarettes contain nicotine, a highly addictive, plant-derived alkaloid that binds to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). Nicotine's reinforcing properties are primarily mediated by activation of the brain's mesolimbic reward circuitry and release of the neurotransmitter dopamine that contribute to the development of addiction. Moreover, nicotine addiction drives repeated intake that results in chronic pulmonary exposure to either tobacco smoke or e-cigarettes despite negative respiratory symptoms. Beyond the brain, nAChRs are also highly expressed in peripheral neurons, epithelia and immune cells, where their activation may cause harmful effects. Thus, nicotine, a key ingredient of both conventional and electronic cigarettes, produces neurological effects that drive addiction and may damage the lungs in the process, producing a complex, multilevel pathological state. We conclude that vaping needs to be studied by multi-disciplinary teams that include pulmonary and neurophysiologists as well as behaviourists and addiction specialists to fully understand their impact on human physiology.
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.