E-cigarette Use May Alter Healthy Nasal Mucosa
Science & Technology

E-cigarette Use May Alter Healthy Nasal Mucosa

NASA Space Technology E-cigarette users and smokers had significantly higher amounts of Staphylococcus aureusin their respiratory microbiome than nonsmokers, and microbial diversity differed by sex, according to a new analysis. Researchers in a new study also found that Lactobacillus inersusually seen as a protective species, was more prevalent in smokers than in nonsmokers, whereas less prevalent in e-cigarette users than in nonsmokers.The respiratory microbiome is thought to help protect the lower respiratory tract from pathogens, but the specific effects of e-cigarettes on the respiratory or nasal microbiome have not been well studied, wrote Elise Hickman, PhD, of the Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma and Lung Biology at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and colleagues."Identifying how e-cigarette use modifies the nasal microbiome is another step in understanding how vaping affects lung health," ...
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