As compared to controls, nicotine containing e-cigarette vapor induced major changes in gene expression of pneumococcus, affecting 264 genes, mostly involved in metabolism and stress response. Nicotine free e-cigarette vapor changed altered expression of just 14 genes, and only modestly, said corresponding author Ritwij Kulkarni, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Immunology, University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The latter genes are involved in sugar transport and metabolism. By comparison, cigarette smoke altered expression in 982 genes, also mostly involved in metabolism and stress response.
"Interestingly, neither nicotine containing nor nicotine free e-cigarette vapor altered the ability of pneumococci to cause lung infection in a mouse model of infection," said Dr. Kulkarni. However, both nicotine-containing e-cigarette vapor and cigarette smoke caused moderate induction of biofilm formation," according to the report.
