E-Cigarette Aerosol, Conventional Cigarette Smoke, and Myocardial Perfusion

E-cigarettes deliver nicotine by creating an aerosol of ultrafine particles. Many questions remain about the size and composition and especially about the potential toxicity of these particles. Thus, a key unanswered question-and the research question proposed-is whether e-cigarette aerosol triggers the same acute impairment in coronary microvessel function as does conventional cigarette smoke, which delivers a very well-defined exposure to fine particles and many fold greater exposure to toxic (combustion) products including volatile organic compounds (such as acrolein) that have been implicated in the pathogenesis of tobacco-related coronary disease. Because the effects of nicotine on the human coronary microcirculation remain incompletely defined-with multiple potential vasodilator and vasoconstrictor actions each of which may vary by dose-we will determine the comparative effects of conventional cigarette smoke against e-cigarette aerosol with no nicotine, with low-dose nicotine, and with high-dose nicotine.