ArticleThe Science of the total environment2025
Associations of volatile organic compounds with accelerated epigenetic aging in the lungs of smokers and electronic cigarette users.
Article in The Science of the total environment, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Biological aging acceleration associated with electronic cigarette use in the United States.Environmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2026Article
- Lung microbiome predictors of epigenetic aging and potential associations with smoking and electronic cigarette use.Clinical epigenetics · 2026Article
- Influence of E-Liquids and Oral Commensal Bacteria on the Growth ofDentistry journal · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCigarette smoke and electronic cigarettes (EC) contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can irritate the respiratory tract and affect pulmonary health. No studies have reported relationships between VOCs from smokers and EC users and pulmonary cellular behavior, such as lung biological aging.
methodsUsing urinary total nicotine equivalent (TNE) and propylene glycol, the primarily E-liquid constituent, the tobacco use status of smokers (SM, n = 13), EC users (n = 12), and never-smokers (NS, n = 31) was confirmed. In the lungs of SM and EC, we assessed methylation age (mAge) estimates and cellular senescence-related gene expression. Ten urinary metabolites of VOCs with and without adjusting for nicotine intake, TNE, were associated with mAge estimates and gene expression.
resultsCompared to EC users, SM had a significantly higher level of TNE-adjusted metabolites of acrylonitrile and 1,3-butadiene, while showing a lower level of a metabolite of benzene. TNE-adjusted metabolites of 1,3 butadiene, ethylene oxide, and acrylonitrile were overall positively associated with Pheno-mAge (an epigenetic clock for lifespan/mortality), with different patterns of the associations by smoking group. IFNG and STAT1 showed an overall positive association with TNE-adjusted metabolites of propylene oxide and acrylamide, with a stronger association in SM compared to EC. Without controlling for TNE, a benzene metabolite was the only significant associated with POU5F1.
conclusionsThis is the first study reporting associations between smoking/EC-related VOCs and lung biological aging with strong associations in SM, supporting the need for further research on the roles of VOCs-related epigenetic aging and cell senescence genes in pulmonary diseases.
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