E-cigarettes compromise the gut barrier, trigger inflammation

Despite the rising popularity of e-cigarette and vaping devices, their safety continues to be questioned. Using established murine models of acute and chronic e-cigarette aerosol inhalation, murine colon transcriptomics and organoid co-culture models, here 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 was associated with inflammation and reduced expression of tight junction markers, including occludin. Exposure of murine and human enteroid-derived monolayers (EDMs) to nicotine-free e-cigarette aerosols alone or in co-culture with invasive E. coli, recapitulated the key findings observed in vivo, i.e., barrier-disruption, downregulation of occludin, inflammation, and an accentuated risk of and response to bacterial infection. These data highlight an unexpected harmful effect of ecigarette use on the gut barrier and pinpoint non-nicotine chemical components as the source of harm. 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 medicine and public health. Overall design: Transcriptomic profile of murine colon after exposure with e-cigarette