The impact of vaping on adolescent lung function and nasal epithelial gene expression [RNA-seq]

Electronic cigarette use (vaping) among adolescents is a pressing public health issue. We aimed to investigate the impact of vape use on lung function and nasal epithelial gene expression in adolescents. We hypothesized that vaping results in abnormal lung function and differential expression of inflammatory genes in the nasal epithelium of adolescent vape users in comparison to non-vape users. We assessed airflow obstruction with impulse oscillometry (IOS) and collected nasal epithelial brush samples for genome-wide gene expression and targeted DNA methylation analyses in middle and high school students in Colorado. Written informed consent was obtained from participants and Institutional Review Board approval was obtained. Vape users [mean age (standard deviation): 14.8 (1.4) years] reported vaping within the past 6 months while non-vape users [14.8 (1.4)] years did not report any vape use in the past 6 months. Mean airway resistance identified by the IOS R5 measure revealed that vape users (n=13) had higher values than non-vape users (n=37) [p=0.026]. Of 16,860 nasal epithelial genes tested, 7,136 were significantly differentially expressed between vape and non-vape users (false discovery rate (FDR) <0.05), after covariate adjustment. Enrichment analyses identified overexpression of inflammatory response genes and underexpression of ciliogenesis genes in vape users compared to non-vape users. DNA methylation analysis revealed that REXO1 (FDR=0.01) and CERK (FDR=0.06) were differentially methylated among vape users compared to non-vape users. Vaping during adolescence may increase airway resistance and dysresgulation of nasal epithelial genes, including genes involved in airway inflammation and ciliary function.