E-cigarette vapour enhances pneumococcal adherence to airway epithelial cells

What is it about?

There is concern that there are health risks with using of E-cigarettes. This study focussed on whether vapour from E-cigarettes makes airway lining cells become stickier for a bacteria that cause severe chest infections (the pneumococcus). In adult volunteers, we found that vaping increases a substance on airway lining cells that the pneumococcus use to stick to cells. In laboratory experiments we found that exposure of airway cells to E cigarette vapour increases the amount of this substance on the cell surface and results in an increased amount of bacteria sticking to cells. Finally, in a mouse model we found that E cigarette vapour increases the amount of bacteria in the nose, after infection with the pneumococcus. Our results suggest that vaping may increase the risk of chest infections.

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