Biophysical investigation of vape additives with complex lung surfactant model systems and physiological surfactant extracts

Hypothesis

Selected vape additives, vitamin E acetate and CBD, are suspected agents in pathology of vape related lung illnesses. The lipophilic nature of these molecules allow them to partition into lung surfactant and disrupt proper function. Such dysfunction can lead to respiratory distress and hypoxemia, two common symptoms of this new class of lung injury.

Experiments

Lung surfactant models were formed by depositing lipids at the air-water interface on a Langmuir-Blodgett trough. Surface pressure-area isotherms were conducted for lipid-additive systems to determine changes in lipid packing, film elasticity, and film stability, while Brewster angle microscopy was used to visualize lateral film organization.

Findings

Vape additives were found to interfere with proper lipid packing, inducing fluidization throughout the lipid films. Additionally, this hindered the formation of lipid condensed domains. Such structures are necessary for surfactant protein anchoring in order to facilitate the formation of multilayers. In complex model systems, this vital processes was significantly impaired, namely by vitamin e acetate. These data suggest a vape additive induced dysfunction of lipid films which may be involved in the pathology of vape-related lung injury.