Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33159582›Full record

ArticleArchives of toxicology2021

Electronic cigarette aerosols induce oxidative stress-dependent cell death and NF-κB mediated acute lung inflammation in mice.

Tiancong Ma, Xiang Wang, Liqiao Li, Bingbing Sun, Yifang Zhu, Tian Xia

Open access · greenAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Archives of toxicology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
42citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
2.0field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

42 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 54 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. The Effects of Thirdhand Vape Residue from Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Vapes on Cells: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025
    Pooled it
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. E-cigarette use and Barrett's esophagus: evaluating a new risk in the era of vaping.Esophagus : official journal of the Japan Esophageal Society · 2026
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. The respiratory epithelium in the era of vaping: insights fromEuropean respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2025
    Review
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Tiancong MaDivision of Nanomedicine, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1772, USA.
Xiang WangDivision of Nanomedicine, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1772, USA.
Liqiao LiDepartment of Environmental Health Sciences, Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1772, USA.
Bingbing SunState Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, 2 Linggong Road, Dalian, 116024, China.
Yifang ZhuDepartment of Environmental Health Sciences, Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1772, USA. Yifang@ucla.edu.
Tian XiaDivision of Nanomedicine, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1772, USA. txia@ucla.edu.ORCID 0000-0003-0123-1305
University of California, Los Angeles · USDalian University of Technology · CN

Funding

Linking E-Cigarette Aerosol Characteristics to Mechanisms of Pulmonary ToxicityR01HL139379 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI ZHU, YIFANG · 2018 to 2021
$1.8M
NHLBI NIH HHS NHLBI R01 HL139379NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL139379
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use has been linked to recent acute lung injury case clusters in over 2000 patients and dozens of deaths in the United States, however, the mechanism leading to lung injury is not certain although ultrafine particles, heavy metals, volatile organic compounds, and other harmful ingredients have been implicated. To systematically evaluate e-cigarette toxicity, we generated e-cigarette aerosols by varying the puff numbers (20-480), nicotine contents (0-24 mg/mL), and collected e-cigarette samples through an impinger system for biological assays. The calculated samples' concentration ranged from 1.96 to 47.06 mg/mL. THP-1 monocyte-differentiated macrophages, BEAS-2B bronchial epithelial cells, wild-type C57BL/6 mice, and NF-κB-luc transgenic mice were used to test the effects of these samples. E-cigarette samples showed cytotoxicity to THP-1 cells and BEAS-2B in vitro, leading to increased oxidative stress, inflammatory cytokine production with or without nicotine, and cell death. Furthermore, aerosol generated from PG is more toxic than VG. The toxicity of e-cigarette samples is at least partially due to the reactive oxygen species and aldehydes, which are generated during the aerosolization processes by the e-cigarette device. After NF-κB-luc mice exposed with e-cigarette samples by oropharyngeal aspiration, NF-κB expressions were observed in a dose-response fashion with or without nicotine. In addition, the e-cigarette samples induced neutrophil infiltration, IL-1β production, oxidative stress marker heme oxygenase-1 expression in wild-type C57BL/6 mice. These results suggested that oxidative stress, pro-inflammatory NF-κB pathway activation, and cell death are involved in e-cigarette aerosol-induced acute lung inflammation.

Indexed as

AerosolsAldehydesAnimalsCell DeathCytokinesE-Cigarette VaporHumansInhalation ExposureLungMacrophagesMiceMice, Inbred C57BLMice, TransgenicNeutrophil InfiltrationNF-kappa BOxidative StressAerosolsAldehydesCytokinesE-Cigarette VaporNF-kappa BReactive Oxygen SpeciesAcute lung inflammationAldehydeElectronic cigarette aerosolNF-κb pathwayOxidative stress

Identifiers

PMID33159582
PMCPMC7855759
OpenAlexW3096745951

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.