E-cigarettes compromise the gut barrier and trigger inflammation

Aditi Sharma; Jasper Lee; Ayden G Fonseca; Alex Moshensky; Taha Kothari; Ibrahim M Sayed; Stella-Rita Ibeawuchi; Rama F Pranadinata; Jason Ear; Debashis Sahoo; Laura E Crotty-Alexander; Pradipta Ghosh; Soumita Das

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2021.102035

E-cigarettes compromise the gut barrier and trigger inflammation

iScience. 2021 Jan 6;24(2):102035. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102035. eCollection 2021 Feb 19.

Authors

Aditi Sharma¹, Jasper Lee¹, Ayden G Fonseca², Alex Moshensky³, Taha Kothari¹, Ibrahim M Sayed¹, Stella-Rita Ibeawuchi¹, Rama F Pranadinata², Jason Ear^{2

3}, Debashis Sahoo^{4

5

6}, Laura E Crotty-Alexander^{3

7}, Pradipta Ghosh^{2

3

6

7}, Soumita Das^{1

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093, USA.
² Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093, USA.
³ Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093, USA.
⁴ Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093, USA.
⁵ Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Jacobs School of Engineering, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093, USA.
⁶ Rebecca and John Moore Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093, USA.
⁷ Veterans Affairs Medical Center, VA San Diego Healthcare System, La Jolla, San Diego, CA 92093, USA.

Abstract

E-cigarette usage continues to rise, yet the safety of e-cigarette aerosols is questioned. Using murine models of acute and chronic e-cigarette aerosol inhalation, murine colon transcriptomics, and murine and human gut-derived organoids in co-culture models, we assessed the effects of e-cigarette use on the gut barrier. Histologic and transcriptome analyses revealed that chronic, but not acute, nicotine-free e-cigarette use increased inflammation and reduced expression of tight junction (TJ) markers. Exposure of murine and human enteroid-derived monolayers (EDMs) to nicotine-free e-cigarette aerosols alone or in co-culture with bacteria also causes barrier disruption, downregulation of TJ protein, and enhanced inflammation in response to infection. These data highlight the harmful effects of "non-nicotine" component of e-cigarettes on the gut barrier. Considering the importance of an intact gut barrier for host fitness and the impact of gut mucosal inflammation on a multitude of chronic diseases, these findings are broadly relevant to both medicine and public health.

Keywords: Biological Sciences; Microbiology; Microbiome; Physiology; Toxicology; Transcriptomics.

Abstract

Grants and funding