Austrian scientists find E-cigarettes lead to cell changes: Study

By Timo Kirez

GENEVA (AA) - Scientists in Austria said Wednesday they found evidence that smoking e-cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes have similar effects on cells.

The University of Innsbruck published the study in the journal Cancer Research where scientists analyzed the molecular effects of tobacco and e-cigarettes on the so-called epigenome -- the information in various cells.

They said the epigenome can change during a lifetime due to various genetic and non-genetic factors, such as aging or lifestyle.

Scientists looked at more than 5,300 samples from 4,000 people for indications about how smoking cigarettes and e-cigarettes affects different cells.

They included blood samples, mouth swabs and samples from the cervical area of women.

"Our analysis indicates that smoking changes the cell program in various cells—however, we also observe similar changes through the consumption of e-cigarettes or smokeless oral tobacco such as snus," Chiara Herzog, one of the authors of the study, told the Austrian newspaper, Krone.

The study showed it was possible to determine relatively whether a person consumes e-cigarettes or oral tobacco based on the so-called epithelial cells in the mouth.

Researchers said tobacco products cause a pro-carcinogenic epigenome in epithelial cells, which are similar to the cells that cause cancer in the lungs or other organs.

They also found the phenomenon in the epithelial cells in the mouths of those who smoke e-cigarettes.

"Even if consumers of e-cigarettes have hardly smoked cigarettes before, we observe very similar changes in them," Martin Widschwendter, another author, told Krone.

Widschwendter further explained that the study provides sufficient evidence to urge caution regarding e-cigarettes.