Electronic Cigarette Aerosol Modulates the Oral Microbiome and Increases Risk of Infection

Smruti Pushalkar; Bidisha Paul; Qianhao Li; Jian Yang; Rebeca Vasconcelos; Shreya Makwana; Juan Muñoz González; Shivm Shah; Chengzhi Xie; Malvin N Janal; Erica Queiroz; Maria Bederoff; Joshua Leinwand; Julia Solarewicz; Fangxi Xu; Eman Aboseria; Yuqi Guo; Deanna Aguallo; Claudia Gomez; Angela Kamer; Donna Shelley; Yindalon Aphinyanaphongs; Cheryl Barber; Terry Gordon; Patricia Corby; Xin Li; Deepak Saxena

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2020.100884

Electronic Cigarette Aerosol Modulates the Oral Microbiome and Increases Risk of Infection

iScience. 2020 Mar 27;23(3):100884. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.100884. Epub 2020 Feb 26.

Authors

Smruti Pushalkar¹, Bidisha Paul¹, Qianhao Li¹, Jian Yang¹, Rebeca Vasconcelos¹, Shreya Makwana¹, Juan Muñoz González¹, Shivm Shah¹, Chengzhi Xie¹, Malvin N Janal², Erica Queiroz¹, Maria Bederoff¹, Joshua Leinwand³, Julia Solarewicz¹, Fangxi Xu¹, Eman Aboseria¹, Yuqi Guo¹, Deanna Aguallo¹, Claudia Gomez¹, Angela Kamer¹, Donna Shelley⁴, Yindalon Aphinyanaphongs⁵, Cheryl Barber¹, Terry Gordon⁶, Patricia Corby⁷, Xin Li⁸, Deepak Saxena⁹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Basic Science and Craniofacial Biology, New York University College of Dentistry, 345 East 24(th) Street, Room 921B, New York, NY 10010, USA.
² Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, NY 10010, USA.
³ S. Arthur Localio Laboratory, Department of Surgery, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
⁴ Department of Public Health Policy Analysis Management, New York University School of Global Public Health, New York, NY 10012, USA.
⁵ Department of Population Health, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA; Department of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
⁶ Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
⁷ Department of Oral Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, School of Dental Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
⁸ Department of Basic Science and Craniofacial Biology, New York University College of Dentistry, 345 East 24(th) Street, Room 921B, New York, NY 10010, USA; Basic Science and Craniofacial Biology, Dental Center, 421 First Avenue, Room 901D, New York, NY, USA. Electronic address: xl15@nyu.edu.
⁹ Department of Basic Science and Craniofacial Biology, New York University College of Dentistry, 345 East 24(th) Street, Room 921B, New York, NY 10010, USA. Electronic address: ds100@nyu.edu.

Abstract

The trend of e-cigarette use among teens is ever increasing. Here we show the dysbiotic oral microbial ecology in e-cigarette users influencing the local host immune environment compared with non-smoker controls and cigarette smokers. Using 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing, we evaluated 119 human participants, 40 in each of the three cohorts, and found significantly altered beta-diversity in e-cigarette users (p = 0.006) when compared with never smokers or tobacco cigarette smokers. The abundance of Porphyromonas and Veillonella (p = 0.008) was higher among vapers. Interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-1β were highly elevated in e-cigarette users when compared with non-users. Epithelial cell-exposed e-cigarette aerosols were more susceptible for infection. In vitro infection model of premalignant Leuk-1 and malignant cell lines exposed to e-cigarette aerosol and challenged by Porphyromonas gingivalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum resulted in elevated inflammatory response. Our findings for the first time demonstrate that e-cigarette users are more prone to infection.

Keywords: In Vitro Toxicology; Microbiome; Oral Microbiology.

Grants and funding

P30 DA011041/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United States