Researchers found that tobacco smokers and e-cigarette users had similar epigenetic changes in oral cells.
- Although electronic cigarettes have a better reputation for health, smokers and vapers experience more or less the same DNA alterations in the cells of the mouth, according to a new study.
- The researchers found that epithelial cells in the mouth showed similar “substantial epigenetic changes” in tobacco users and vaping users who had never or barely smoked.
- “We cannot say that vaping causes cancer, but we do find that vapers have the same epigenetic changes in oral cells as smokers. These changes are associated with the future development of lung cancer in smokers.”
While smokers are regularly recommended to switch to vaping to take care of their health, electronic cigarettes are also not without long-term risks: users of both products experience more or less the same DNA alterations. in the cells of the mouth. This is, in essence, the conclusion of a new study published in the journal Cancer Research.
What epigenetic effects of smoking and vaping on genes?
To achieve this observation, researchers from University College of London (United Kingdom) and the University of Innsbruck (Austria) analyzed, among more than 3,500 samples, the epigenetic effects of tobacco and vaping on the DNA methylation, defined by chemical modifications that occur to regulate gene expression in cells. The objective is to study their consequences on the cells which are exposed to them directly (for example, in the mouth) or indirectly (in the blood or cervical cells in particular). It is “the first study to examine the impact of smoking and vaping on different cell types” rather than on blood only, we can read in a communicated.
If the team of scientists first noticed, unsurprisingly, that the epithelial cells (which surround organs and are often the cause of cancer) in the mouth had “substantial epigenetic changes” in tobacco smokers, she also observed “similar changes” in the oral cells of e-cigarette users who had never smoked or barely smoked (less than 100 cigarettes in their life).
Tobacco or vaping: similar changes in the cells of the mouth
“We cannot say, based on this study, that vaping causes cancer, but we do find that e-cigarette users have the same epigenetic changes in oral cells as smokers, underline the authors. “But these changes are associated with the future development of lung cancer in smokers.” Note that previous work here and there had led to the same findings.
While more in-depth research is needed to determine its long-term health impact, these results are proof, according to researchers, that vaping “may not be as harmless as previously thought” – even if all studies attest that it remains much less harmful than smoking, responsible for more than 8 million dead every year around the world.
