E-cigarette use (vaping) during pregnancy has been increasing, and the potential exists for the developing brain in utero to be exposed to chemical constituents in the vape. Vapes come in over 7000 unique flavours with and without nicotine, and while nicotine is a known neurotoxicant, the effects of vape flavouring alone, in the absence of nicotine, on brain function are not well understood. Here, we performed a screen of vape aerosol extracts (VAEs) to determine the potential for prenatal neurotoxicity using the zebrafish embryo photomotor response (PMR)—a translational biosensor of neurobehavioural effects. We screened three commonly used aerosolized vape liquids (flavoured and flavourless) either with or without nicotine. No neurobehavioural effects were detected in flavourless, nicotine-free VAEs, while the addition of nicotine to this VAE dulled sensory perception. Flavoured nicotine-free VAEs also dulled sensory perception and caused hyperactivity in zebrafish embryos. The combination of flavour and nicotine produced largely additive effects. Flavoured VAEs without nicotine had similar neuroactive potency to nicotine. Together, using zebrafish PMR as a high throughput translational behavioural model for prenatal exposure, our results demonstrate that e-cigarette flavourants that we screened elicit neurobehavioural effects worthy of further investigation for long-term neurotoxic potential and also have the potential to modulate nicotine impact on the developing brain.

怀孕期间电子烟的使用（vaping）一直在增加，子宫内发育的大脑存在潜力暴露于电子烟中的化学成分。电子烟有 7000 多种独特的口味，有和没有尼古丁，虽然尼古丁是一种已知的神经毒物，但在没有尼古丁的情况下，单独的电子烟调味剂对大脑功能的影响尚不清楚。在这里，我们对电子烟气溶胶提取物 (VAE) 进行了筛选，以使用斑马鱼胚胎光运动反应 (PMR)——一种神经行为效应的转化生物传感器来确定产前神经毒性的可能性。我们筛选了三种常用的雾化电子烟液体（有味和无味），无论是否含有尼古丁。在无味、不含尼古丁的 VAE 中没有检测到神经行为影响，而在这种 VAE 中添加尼古丁会使感官知觉迟钝。调味的不含尼古丁的 VAE 也会使斑马鱼胚胎的感官知觉迟钝并导致多动症。香味和尼古丁的结合产生了很大的累加效应。不含尼古丁的调味 VAE 具有与尼古丁相似的神经活性效力。总之，使用斑马鱼 PMR 作为产前暴露的高通量转化行为模型，我们的结果表明，我们筛选的电子烟调味剂引发了值得进一步研究的长期神经毒性潜力的神经行为影响，并且还有可能调节尼古丁对发育中的大脑。