“Modern” vaping involving battery-operated electronic devices began approximately one dozen years and has quickly evolved into a multibillion dollar industry providing products to an estimated 50 million users worldwide. Originally developed as an alternative to traditional cigarette smoking, vaping now appeals to a diverse demographic including substantial involvement of young people who often have never used cigarettes. The rapid rise of vaping fueled by multiple factors has understandably outpaced understanding of biological effects, made even more challenging due to wide ranging individual user habits and preferences. Consequently while vaping-related research gathers momentum, vaping-associated pathological injury (VAPI) has been established by clinical case reports with severe cases manifesting as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) with examples of right ventricular cardiac failure. Therefore, basic scientific studies are desperately needed to understand the impact of vaping upon the lungs as well as cardiopulmonary structure and function. Experimental models that capture fundamental characteristics of vaping-induced ARDS are essential to study pathogenesis and formulate recommendations to mitigate harmful effects attributable to ingredients or equipment. So too, treatment strategies to promote recovery from vaping-associated damage require development and testing at the preclinical level. This review summarizes the back story of vaping leading to present day conundrums with particular emphasis upon VAPI-associated ARDS and prioritization of research goals.

涉及电池供电电子设备的“现代”电子烟开始了大约 12 年，并迅速发展成为一个价值数十亿美元的行业，为全球约 5000 万用户提供产品。电子烟最初是作为传统吸烟的替代品而开发的，现在吸引了多样化的人群，包括经常从未使用过卷烟的年轻人的大量参与。可以理解，在多种因素的推动下，电子烟的迅速崛起已经超过了对生物效应的理解，由于广泛的个人用户习惯和偏好，变得更具挑战性。因此，尽管与电子烟相关的研究势头强劲，与电子烟相关的病理损伤 (VAPI) 已通过临床病例报告确定，其中严重病例表现为急性呼吸窘迫综合征 (ARDS)，并伴有右心室心力衰竭的例子。因此，迫切需要基础科学研究来了解电子烟对肺部以及心肺结构和功能的影响。捕捉电子烟引起的 ARDS 基本特征的实验模型对于研究发病机制和制定减轻可归因于成分或设备的有害影响的建议至关重要。同样，促进从电子烟相关损害中恢复的治疗策略也需要在临床前水平上进行开发和测试。