ArticleAmerican journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology2021
E-cigarettes and health risks: more to the flavor than just the name.
Article in American journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
24 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pulmonary effects of e-liquid flavors: a systematic review.Journal of toxicology and environmental health. Part B, Critical reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Vape flavoring chemicals and oral fibroblast viability.Anatomy & cell biology · 2026Review
- Article
- Laryngeal Basal Cell Response to Cigarette Smoke and E-Cigarette Aerosol Exposures.The Laryngoscope · 2026Article
- Sweeteners in E-Cigarettes: A Minireview of Flavoring and Biological Action.Journal of xenobiotics · 2025Review
- Memory under siege: the cognitive costs of smoking and vaping.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Review
- The Impact of Maternal/In Utero Exposure of Novel Tobacco Products on the Offspring Cardiovascular Health.Cardiovascular toxicology · 2025Review
- Heterogeneity of Lung Phagocytes and Clearance of Apoptotic Cells in Lung Injury and Repair.Seminars in respiratory and critical care medicine · 2025Review
- Disposable e-cigarettes and their nicotine delivery, usage pattern, and subjective effects in occasionally smoking adults.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- E-cigarette flavoring chemicals and vehicles adversely impact the functions of pigmented human retinal ARPE-19 cells.Toxicology reports · 2024Article
- Quantification of Size-Binned Particulate Matter in Electronic Cigarette Aerosols Using Multi-Spectral Optical Sensing and Machine Learning.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Vaping: The Key to Quitting Cigarettes or a Gateway to Addiction?Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Article
- Dual Exposure to E-Cigarette Vapour and Cigarette Smoke Results in Poorer Airway Cell, Monocyte, and Macrophage Function Than Single Exposure.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Photometric Monitoring of Electronic Cigarette Puff Topography.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Menthol flavoring in e-cigarette condensate causes pulmonary dysfunction and cytotoxicity in precision cut lung slices.American journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology · 2023Article
- Pro-inflammatory effects of aerosols from e-cigarette-derived flavoring chemicals on murine macrophages.Toxicology reports · 2023Article
- Aerosolized nicotine from e-cigarettes alters gene expression, increases lung protein permeability, and impairs viral clearance in murine influenza infection.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Article
- E-Cigarette Vapour Increases ACE2 and TMPRSS2 Expression in a Flavour- and Nicotine-Dependent Manner.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Electronic Cigarettes: A Pro-Con Review of the Current Literature.The journal of allergy and clinical immunology. In practice · 2022Review
- Impulsivity-Related Personality Traits as Predictors of E-Cigarette Use among Young Adults over Time.Substance use & misuse · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The growing interest in regulating flavored E-liquids must incorporate understanding of the "flavoring profile" of each E-liquid-which flavorings (flavoring chemicals) are present and at what concentrations not just focusing on the flavor on the label. We investigated the flavoring profile of 10 different flavored E-liquids. We assessed bronchial epithelial cell viability and apoptosis, phagocytosis of bacteria and apoptotic cells by macrophages after exposure to E-cigarette vapor extract (EVE). We validated our data in normal human bronchial epithelial cells (NHBE) and alveolar macrophages (AM) from healthy donors. We also assessed cytokine release and validated in the saliva from E-cigarette users. Increased necrosis/apoptosis (16.1-64.5% apoptosis) in 16HBE cells was flavor dependent, and NHBEs showed an increased susceptibility to flavors. In THP-1 differentiated macrophages phagocytosis was also flavor dependent, with AM also showing increased susceptibility to flavors. Further, Banana and Chocolate were shown to reduce surface expression of phagocytic target recognition receptors on alveolar macrophages. Banana and Chocolate increased IL-8 secretion by NHBE, whereas all 4 flavors reduced AM IL-1β secretion, which was also reduced in the saliva of E-cigarette users compared with healthy controls. Flavorant profiles of E-liquids varied from simple 2 compound mixtures to complex mixtures containing over a dozen flavorants. E-liquids with high benzene content, complex flavoring profiles, high chemical concentration had the greatest impacts. The Flavorant profile of E-liquids is key to disruption of the airway status quo by increasing bronchial epithelial cell apoptosis, causing alveolar macrophage phagocytic dysfunction, and altering airway cytokines.
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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.