Study: E-cigarettes may damage blood vessels
By American Heart Association News
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新的研究表明,电子烟的使用可能会损害心血管健康, adding to the growing list of concerns about their safety.
The study, 这将在下周一在芝加哥举行的美国心脏协会科学会议上公布, 研究了电子烟对人体血管内部内皮细胞的影响. Endothelial cells produce nitric oxide, 一种有助于保持血管健康和控制血压水平的分子.
传统香烟中的化学物质会减少一氧化氮的产生, which is one of the reasons smoking causes heart damage. 这项新研究旨在观察电子烟是否有类似的效果.
研究人员收集了36名吸烟者、电子烟使用者和非吸烟者的血液样本. 在实验室里,他们将血管内皮细胞暴露在志愿者的血清中. 血清是留在红细胞和白细胞之后的液体, blood platelets and clotting factors have been removed.
实验室结果显示,与不吸烟者的血清相比,暴露于电子烟使用者血清中的内皮细胞产生的一氧化氮更少,含有的产生一氧化氮的酶也更少.
“我们发现,电子烟使用者的血清对内皮细胞功能的有害影响与香烟相似," said the study's lead researcher, Dr. Leila Mohammadi, 他是加州大学心血管研究所的博士后, San Francisco. “这种有害影响可能会对动脉和心血管健康产生不利影响."
Matthew Springer, the study's principal investigator, 他说,研究结果强调了与电子烟有关的另一个安全问题.
“有各种各样的产品(比如电子烟)被认为比香烟更安全, and they might be, but safer isn't the same thing as harmless," said Springer, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.
Aruni Bhatnagar, 他是路易斯维尔大学的医学教授,也是美国心脏协会烟草管制和成瘾中心的联合主任, called the study "a step in the right direction."
“烟草行业正在推动电子烟更安全," said Bhatnagar, who was not involved with the research. “但这项研究提出了一个信号,支持电子烟对心血管健康并非无害的观点. 长期使用电子烟可能会造成严重的(血管)损伤."
目前尚不清楚电子烟中含有什么物质导致一氧化氮含量下降, the researchers noted.
Mohammadi和Springer都表示,他们希望看到未来的研究着眼于电子烟使用者血管内皮细胞的健康状况. 他们还希望看到有关电子烟中特定成分和口味影响的研究, including nicotine, propylene glycol and glycerin.
"All of the different flavors are a different chemical, and some of them could have harmful effects," Springer said.
研究人员面临的一大挑战是不断推出新的电子烟产品, each with its own list of ingredients, that are marketed as smart alternatives to smoking.
研究表明,“除了干净的空气,你吸入的任何东西似乎都会导致血管问题," said Springer. “而不是试图找到不像香烟那样有害的东西, we might have to realize (we need) to just breathe clean air."
Find more news from Scientific Sessions.
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