Tobacco smoking is classified as a human carcinogen. A wide variety of new products, in particular electronic cigarettes (e-cigs), have recently appeared on the market as an alternative to smoking. Although the in vitro toxicity of e-cigs is relatively well known, there is currently a lack of data on their long-term health effects. In this context, the aim of our study was to compare, on a mouse model and using a nose-only exposure system, the in vivo genotoxic and mutagenic potential of e-cig aerosols tested at two power settings (18 W and 30 W) and conventional cigarette (3R4F) smoke. The standard comet assay, micronucleus test and Pig-a gene mutation assay were performed after subacute (4 days), subchronic (3 months) and chronic (6 months) exposure. The generation of oxidative stress was also assessed by measuring the 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine and by using the hOGG1-modified comet assay. Our results show that only the high-power e-cig and the 3R4F cigarette induced oxidative DNA damage in the lung and the liver of exposed mice. In return, no significant increase in chromosomal aberrations or gene mutations were noted whatever the type of product. This study demonstrates that e-cigs, at high-power setting, should be considered, contrary to popular belief, as hazardous products in terms of genotoxicity in mouse model.

吸烟被列为人类致癌物。最近市场上出现了各种各样的新产品，特别是电子香烟 (e-cigs)，作为吸烟的替代品。尽管电子烟的体外毒性相对众所周知，但目前缺乏关于其长期健康影响的数据。在这种情况下，我们研究的目的是在小鼠模型上并使用仅鼻子暴露系统比较在两种功率设置（18 W 和 30 W）下测试的电子烟气溶胶的体内基因毒性和诱变潜力和传统香烟 (3R4F) 烟雾。标准彗星试验、微核试验和Pig-a  在亚急性（4 天）、亚慢性（3 个月）和慢性（6 个月）暴露后进行基因突变检测。还通过测量 8-羟基-2'-脱氧鸟苷和使用 hOGG1 修饰的彗星试验来评估氧化应激的产生。我们的研究结果表明，只有高功率电子烟和 3R4F 香烟会在暴露的小鼠的肺和肝脏中引起氧化性 DNA 损伤。作为回报，无论产品类型如何，都没有注意到染色体畸变或基因突变的显着增加。这项研究表明，在小鼠模型中，与普遍看法相反，应将高功率电子烟视为危险产品。