Comparative assessment of electronic nicotine delivery systems aerosol and cigarette smoke on endothelial cell migration: the Replica Project

Cigarette smoking is associated with impairment of repair mechanisms necessary for vascular endothelium homeostasis. Reducing the exposure to smoke toxicants may result in the mitigation of the harmful effect on the endothelium and cardiovascular disease development. Previous investigations performed by the tobacco industries evaluated in vitro the effect of electronic cigarette (e-cig) compared to cigarette smoke demonstrating a significant reduction in endothelial cell migration inhibition following e-cig aerosol exposure. In the present study, we replicated one of these studies, evaluating the effects of cigarette smoke on endothelial cell migration compared to e-cig and heated tobacco products. We used a multi-center approach (ring-study) to verify the robustness and reliability of the results obtained in the replicated study. Consistently with the original study, we observed a substantial reduction of the effects of e-cig and tobacco heated products on endothelial cell migration compared to cigarette smoke. In conclusion, our study further confirms the importance of e-cig and tobacco heated products as a possible harm reduction strategy for cardiovascular diseases development in smokers.