New Study Reveals Frequent Vaping May Weaken Immunity

E-cigarettes may weaken the immune system. Research has found that vaping can reduce the activity of immune cells, and even e-liquid without nicotine has a similar effect. Previous studies have also confirmed that e-cigarettes can negatively affect the lungs and heart.

News flash: According to the medical journal Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI), researchers at the University of Birmingham have concluded that e-cigarette use may have a negative impact on the immune system. 

Researchers at the University of Birmingham studied immune cells extracted from the blood of volunteers who had never used cigarettes or e-cigarettes. They found that e-cigarette aerosol reduced the activity of these immune cells, which play a role in fighting infection.

The research team exposed immune cells taken from volunteers' blood to aerosol generated from e-liquid to simulate normal human vaping conditions. Half were exposed to aerosol from nicotine-containing e-liquid, and the other half to aerosol from nicotine-free e-liquid.

Although all of the immune cells survived, their activity was significantly reduced. The researchers found that this decline was caused by increased levels of F-actin inside the cells, a protein responsible for changing the shape of immune cells. Because their shape was altered, these immune cells could not move effectively and therefore could not properly perform their protective functions. In addition, the study found that even nicotine-free e-liquid had the same effect on immune cells.

Previous research has already confirmed that e-cigarettes can have negative effects on lung and heart function.