Nicotine aerosols diminish airway CFTR function and mucociliary clearance.

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) are often promoted as safe alternatives to smoking based on the faulty perception that inhaling nicotine is safe until other harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke are absent. Previously, others and we have reported that, similar to cigarette smoke, e-cig aerosols decrease CFTR-mediated ion transport across airway epithelium. However, it is unclear whether such defective epithelial ion transport by e-cig aerosols occurs in vivo and what the singular contribution of inhaled nicotine is to impairments in mucociliary clearance (MCC), the primary physiologic defense of the airways.