Experiments in mice have shown that exposure to electronic cigarettes increases the risk of fatty liver in mice. Researchers say this reminds people to use e-cigarettes more carefully. An electronic cigarette is mainly composed of a battery, an evaporator, and a smoke tube containing smoke liquid, which contains a certain amount of nicotine. Many people use electronic cigarettes as a smoking cessation aid.
Researchers from the Charles R. Drew School of Medicine in the United States reported that in recent years, e-cigarettes have become more and more popular at the annual meeting of the American Endocrine Society held in Chicago on the 18th and in some advertisements. It claims that electronic cigarettes are safer than traditional cigarettes. However, their experiments in mice showed that exposure to e-cigarettes can cause excessive accumulation of liver fat, which is harmful to health.
The head of the study Theodore Friedman (Theodore Friedman) said: He believes: "We have concluded that e-cigarettes are not as safe as advertised." He believes that the results of this study are important for public health and Tobacco control policy is of great significance. Previous studies have confirmed that traditional tobacco nicotine is related to non-alcoholic fatty liver, but there is a lack of research on the long-term effects of electronic cigarettes on the liver. In a 12-week experiment, all mice received a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet. A group of mice was exposed to the aerosol environment formed by electronic cigarettes until the nicotine level in the blood was comparable to that of smokers or electronic cigarettes. The mice in the control group were placed in a nebulized saline environment. The researchers collected liver samples from these mice and used RNA (ribonucleic acid) sequencing technology to analyze the genes affected by e-cigarettes. An abnormality in the 433 gene related to fatty liver was found in liver samples of mice exposed to e-cigarettes. In addition, genes related to the biological clock in this group of mice have also been altered. Damage to the biological clock may accelerate the progress of liver diseases including fatty liver.