Electronic cigarettes (E-cigs) have been promoted as harm-free or less-risky than smoking, even for women during pregnancy. These claims are made largely on E-cig aerosol having fewer number of toxic chemicals compared to cigarette smoke. Given that even low levels of smoking are found to produce adverse birth outcomes, we sought to test the hypothesis that vaping during pregnancy (with or without nicotine) would not be harm-free, and would result in vascular dysfunction that would be evident in offspring during adolescent and/or adult life. Pregnant female Sprague Dawley rats were exposed to E-cig aerosol (1-hour/day, 5 days/week, starting on gestational day 2 until pups were weaned) using e-liquid with 0 mg/ml (E-cig0) or 18 mg/ml nicotine (E-cig18) and compared to ambient air exposed controls. Body mass at birth and at weaning were not different between groups. Assessment of middle cerebral artery (MCA) reactivity revealed a 51-56% reduction in endothelial-dependent dilation response to acetylcholine (ACh) for both E-cig0 and E-cig18 in 1-month, 3-month (adolescent), and 7-month old (adult) offspring (p<0.05 compared to air, all time points). MCA response to sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and myogenic tone were not different across groups suggesting that endothelial-independent responses were not altered. The MCA vasoconstrictor response (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) was also not different across treatment and age groups. These data demonstrate that maternal vaping during pregnancy is not harm-free and confers significant cerebrovascular health risk/dysfunction to offspring that persists into adult life.

中文翻译：

---

孕期使用电子烟对后代的长期脑血管功能障碍

电子烟 (E-cigs) 被宣传为无害或比吸烟风险更低，即使对于怀孕期间的女性也是如此。这些声明主要针对电子烟气溶胶，其有毒化学物质的数量少于香烟烟雾。鉴于即使发现低水平的吸烟也会产生不良的出生结果，我们试图检验怀孕期间吸电子烟（有或没有尼古丁）不会无害的假设，并且会导致后代明显的血管功能障碍在青少年和/或成年生活中。怀孕的雌性 Sprague Dawley 大鼠使用 0 mg/ml (E-cig0) 或 18 mg/ml 尼古丁 (E-cig18) 并与暴露于环境空气的对照进行比较。出生和断奶时的体重在各组之间没有差异。大脑中动脉 (MCA) 反应性评估显示，在 1 个月、3 个月（青少年）和 7 - 月大（成年）后代（与空气相比，所有时间点 p<0.05）。MCA 对硝普钠 (SNP) 的反应和肌源性张力在各组之间没有差异，表明内皮非依赖性反应没有改变。MCA 血管收缩反应（5-羟色胺，5-HT）在治疗和年龄组之间也没有差异。这些数据表明，孕妇在怀孕期间使用电子烟并非无害，并且会给后代带来持续到成年生活的显着脑血管健康风险/功能障碍。大脑中动脉 (MCA) 反应性评估显示，在 1 个月、3 个月（青少年）和 7 - 月大（成年）后代（与空气相比，所有时间点 p<0.05）。MCA 对硝普钠 (SNP) 的反应和肌源性张力在各组之间没有差异，表明内皮非依赖性反应没有改变。MCA 血管收缩反应（5-羟色胺，5-HT）在治疗和年龄组之间也没有差异。这些数据表明，孕妇在怀孕期间使用电子烟并非无害，并且会给后代带来持续到成年生活的显着脑血管健康风险/功能障碍。大脑中动脉 (MCA) 反应性评估显示，在 1 个月、3 个月（青少年）和 7 - 月大（成年）后代（与空气相比，所有时间点 p<0.05）。MCA 对硝普钠 (SNP) 的反应和肌源性张力在各组之间没有差异，表明内皮非依赖性反应没有改变。MCA 血管收缩反应（5-羟色胺，5-HT）在治疗和年龄组之间也没有差异。这些数据表明，孕妇在怀孕期间使用电子烟并非无害，并且会给后代带来持续到成年生活的显着脑血管健康风险/功能障碍。