Studies from the UK, Germany, and Japan confirm next-generation tobacco products are less harmful th

Today’s news, April 12: not long ago, researchers from the two major groups Imperial Tobacco and Reemtsma jointly used a human 3D lung model and found that under a 28-day exposure environment, HNB had less impact on the model cells than traditional combustible cigarettes. In addition, a Japanese university also confirmed in a mouse experiment that HNB causes less harm to cardiomyocytes, while combustible tobacco smoke leads to contractile dysfunction in mouse cardiomyocytes.

A large body of data shows that smoking can cause major diseases such as heart disease, lung cancer, and emphysema, mainly because human cells are repeatedly exposed to large amounts of harmful smoke produced during tobacco combustion. Therefore, tobacco harm reduction (THR) has become an important area of research for helping adult smokers improve the way they consume nicotine and eventually quit smoking.

Recently, researchers from Imperial Tobacco in the UK and Germany’s Reemtsma published a paper in the internationally recognized toxicology journal Front Toxicol titled “Twenty-eight day repeated exposure of human 3D bronchial epithelial model to heated tobacco aerosols indicates decreased toxicological responses compared to cigarette smoke.” The paper points out that next-generation tobacco products (mainly HTP, HNB, and e-cigarettes) are less harmful than traditional cigarettes.

The researchers used the MucilAir 3D reconstructed human bronchial epithelial cell model to simulate a more realistic human lung breathing environment. By exposing the model for 28 days to HTP products and diluted conventional cigarette smoke, they tested cytotoxicity, ciliary active area, beat frequency, inflammatory markers, and other indicators. The results showed that compared with HTP aerosol, diluted cigarette smoke consistently produced faster and more pronounced effects across all tested endpoints, in line with smoking rhythm; by contrast, the effects caused by HTP aerosol were not obvious, and adaptive responses occurred in the model cells during the test period.

The researchers believe these results are consistent with previous in vitro findings for HNB products. This means that growing evidence suggests that next-generation tobacco products such as HNB have the potential to reduce harm from tobacco and may be well suited for adult smokers seeking to improve their smoking habits and move further toward quitting.

An article published by Wakayama Medical University and Hokkaido University in Japan, “Effects of cigarette smoke extracts (combustible and heated tobacco) on rat and human iPS cell-derived cardiomyocytes,” likewise indicates that new tobacco products such as e-cigarettes present lower harm and risk.

Published in the journal Biophysical Journal, the paper compared the effects of smoke extracts from e-cigarettes (Ploom X, IQOS) and combustible cigarettes ((1R6F, Hi-Lite)) on mouse cardiomyocytes, using the MTS method to measure cellular responses. The results showed that although extracts from both product types reduced the spontaneous beating rate and contraction rate of cardiomyocytes, the harmful effects of combustible cigarettes were far greater than those of e-cigarettes. Combustible cigarette extracts can cause contractile dysfunction in cardiomyocytes by altering intracellular Ca2+ dynamics.

References

Fiona Chapman, Sarah Jean Pour, Roman Wieczorek, et al. Twenty-eight day repeated exposure of human 3D bronchial epithelial model to heated tobacco aerosols indicates decreased toxicological responses compared to cigarette smoke.  Frontiers in Toxicology, 2023

Jumpei Yasuda, Sakiko MATsumura, Takuya Notomi, et al. Effects of cigarette smoke extracts (combustible and heated tobacco) on rat and human iPS cell-derived cardiomyocytes. Biophysical Journal, 2022#p#分页标题#e#