Comparative analysis of the toxic effects on the mouse lung of 4 weeks exposure to the heated tobacco product Ploom TECH+ and 3R4F reference cigarettes.

Pulmonary emphysema is primarily attributable to prolonged exposure to cigarette smoke. Novel tobacco substitutes, such as heated tobacco products, have emerged as healthier alternatives to cigarettes. The effects of short-term inhalation of a heated tobacco product, Ploom TECH+ (PT+), on the lungs of mice were compared with those of 3R4F reference cigarettes. Male 10-week-old C57BL mice were exposed to clean air (control), 3R4F, or PT+ for 1 h/d, 5 d/week for two or four weeks. After four weeks of exposure, the number of inflammatory cells and proportion of neutrophils and lymphocytes in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and the number of macrophages in the lung tissue increased significantly in mice exposed to 3R4F but not in those exposed to PT+. Changes in the expression of genes related to inflammation-related factors were observed in the lung tissues of mice exposed to 3R4F for two and four weeks. Chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 17, resistin-like alpha, and lipocalin 2 were among the upregulated genes. In our previous short-term tobacco inhalation study, these genes were identified as useful markers of emphysema effects induced by exposure to cigarette smoke from Peace cigarettes, detectable before pulmonary histological changes appeared. These effects were not observed in the PT+-exposed mice. These data suggest that PT+ caused less damage to the lungs of mice than 3R4F, particularly regarding the induction of emphysema.