Study Reveals Electronic Cigarettes Disrupt Muscle Health in Obese Mice
Electronic cigarette consumption may interfere with how muscles remain healthy in obese individuals, according to a study published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.
The study “Electronic Cigarette Exposure Induces Adverse Cellular Alterations in Skeletal Muscle in Male Mice Subjected to a High-Fat Diet” was conducted in the laboratory of Juan Carlos Rivera, PhD, Assistant Professor, and Theodore C. Friedman, MD, PhD, Professor of Internal Medicine, and researchers at Charles R. Drew University.
Dr. Rivera and his team/colleagues evaluated the skeletal muscle effects of electronic cigarette aerosol, delivered in a manner similar to human vaping, in a mouse model of obesity induced by a high-fat diet.
For 12 weeks, the mice were fed either a normal chow diet or a high-fat diet and exposed to saline aerosol control or aerosol containing 0% or 2.4% nicotine.
The researchers found mice that were fed a high-fat diet and exposed to nicotine-containing electronic cigarettes experienced disrupted energy metabolism, increased cellular stress, and damaged mitochondria in skeletal muscle tissue. In other words, the muscles looked like damaged muscles. There were no effects on mice that were fed a normal diet or exposed to nicotine-containing electronic cigarettes.
“Our findings suggest that electronic cigarette exposure on high-fat diets impairs the skeletal muscle, adding to the growing list of affected organs for ongoing regulatory efforts concerning nicotine-containing substances,” said Dr. Rivera. “The findings are relevant to public education and policy aimed at reducing the perceived appeal and use of electronic cigarettes.”
“The skeletal muscle is an important tissue for overall health as it is essential for physical function and lowering metabolic disease risk; it also helps to reduce the mortality risk in chronic disease, cancer, and AIDS,” added Dr. Rivera. “Because many electronic cigarette users are adolescents/young adults, muscle impairment during a period of ongoing muscle maturity could have lasting consequences.”