AUTHOR:
Abucar Mohamed
FACULTY: Dr. Sara Heggland
DEPARTMENT: Biology
According to the 2020 National Youth Tobacco Survey, 38.9% of high school students used e-cigarettes in the last 30 days. These statistics point to the need to understand the impact of e-cigarettes on youth, as this is the age when peak bone mass is acquired. Our previous work demonstrates flavor-dependent osteotoxicity due to e-liquids. Therefore, this study focuses on three e-liquid flavors from the popular pod-based brand, VUSE Alto - Golden Tobacco, Menthol, and Rich Tobacco - containing 1.8% nicotine. The osteoblast-like cell lines Saos-2 and MG-63 were exposed to unvaped VUSE e-liquids (concentrations between 0.0001% - 2%) for 24 hours. Cytotoxicity was determined using the MTT assay. Collagen type I, the main organic component of bone, was analyzed in Saos-2 by immunofluorescence. Menthol flavor induced the greatest cytotoxicity, whereas the Golden Tobacco and Rich Tobacco flavors were less cytotoxic. Preliminary Collagen type I immunofluorescence experiments using 0.0001% Menthol and Rich Tobacco showed no detectable changes in Collagen type I protein expression (8.693 ± 2.043% and 7.973 ± 0.462%, respectively) as compared to the control (8.509 ± 1.498%). This study illustrates a flavor-dependent osteotoxicity in response to VUSE e-liquids, while further research is needed on Collagen type I. Overall, we demonstrate more research is needed to discern the impacts of various e-liquid flavors on bone health. The project described was supported by an Institutional Development Award (IDeA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Grant #P20GM103408.
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