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Endothelial Cell Inflammatory Reactions Are Altered in the Presence of E-Cigarette Extracts of Variable Nicotine

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Abstract

Exposure to tobacco smoke has been associated with heightened endothelial cell activities associated with cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Conversely, the exposure to nicotine both activates and inhibits particular endothelial cell functions. However, which constituent(s) of tobacco smoke is responsible for these changes is unknown, since toxic gases and fine particulate matter cannot be isolated. Electronic cigarette vapor allows us to isolate these constituents, providing us the ability to evaluate individual constituents. Here, we used e-cigarettes to (1) identify which constituents of tobacco products are most responsible for altered CVD functions and (2) elucidate the underlying risk of e-cigarette exposure. To accomplish this goal, endothelial cells were exposed to extracts produced from tobacco cigarettes or e-cigarettes. Endothelial cell inflammatory processes, viability, density and metabolic activity were observed. In general, a significant increase in complement deposition, the expression of the receptors for C1q, coupled with a decrease in cell proliferation and metabolic activity was observed. These results were independent of nicotine and the exposure to e-vapor was just as harmful as tobacco smoke extracts. Thus, the exposure to fine particulate matter and not toxic combustion gases or nicotine may be the most critical for regulating CVD progression.

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Abbreviations

gC1qR:

Receptor for the globular head of C1q

cC1qR:

Receptor for the collagen region of C1q

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Conflict of interest

Dr. Rubenstein, Ms. Barber, Dr. Yin and Dr. Ghebrehiwet report no conflict of interest.

Ethical Considerations

All authors have read and approved the submission of this manuscript and have agreed to be named as authors. Additionally, each author has contributed significantly to the work presented, by designing the experiments, conducting the experiments, analyzing/summarizing the results and/or critically analyzing the manuscript. All work of others has been properly acknowledged. All data are true and accurate to the knowledge of the authors. None of the authors have any potential competing interest with the publication of this manuscript. This manuscript is not under consideration for publication in any other journal and has not been previously published in any other format and is original. This work does not involve human subjects, vertebrae animals, human embryonic stem cells and only makes use of cell obtained commercially, thus it was not necessary for our local IRB/IACUC to review/approve this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Stony Brook University, 101 Bioengineering Building, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA

    Kirstin E. Barber, Wei Yin & David A. Rubenstein

  2. School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA

    Berhane Ghebrehiwet

Authors
  1. Kirstin E. Barber
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  2. Berhane Ghebrehiwet
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  3. Wei Yin
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  4. David A. Rubenstein
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to David A. Rubenstein.

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Associate Editor Cheng Dong oversaw the review of this article.

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Barber, K.E., Ghebrehiwet, B., Yin, W. et al. Endothelial Cell Inflammatory Reactions Are Altered in the Presence of E-Cigarette Extracts of Variable Nicotine. Cel. Mol. Bioeng. 10, 124–133 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12195-016-0465-4

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