Effects of Combustible Cigarettes and Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems on the Development and Progression of Chronic Lung Inflammation in Mice.

This article focuses on comparing the effects of combustible cigarettes (CCs) and electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) on lung-infiltrated immune cells and lung injury in a mouse model. Both CC and ENDS exposure induced systemic inflammatory responses and immune cell-driven lung damage, but ENDS, which heat processed tobacco rather than burning it, caused significantly less severe lung inflammation, immune cell activation, and respiratory dysfunction than CCs. Specifically, ENDS-exposed mice showed reduced activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome in neutrophils and macrophages, lower recruitment of leukocytes, and diminished dendritic cell-mediated activation of Th1 and Th17 cells compared to CC-exposed mice. While ENDS elicited a milder immune response and lung injury, the study concludes that ENDS are not harmless and their long-term use should be avoided.