Acute health effects of short-term use of Heated Tobacco Products – preliminary results

Abstract

Heated Tobacco Products (HTPs) are designed for delivering nicotine by heating the tobacco. The aim of the study was to assess the impact of use of HTPs on respiratory and cardiovascular system, compared to cigarette smoking. The study was conducted on a group of 30 people, with a mean age of 23.3 ± 2.4 y-rs, divided into 3 equal groups: control (C), traditional tobacco smokers (T) and HTP users (H). Heart rate (HR), blood pressure (SBP/DBP), saturation, exhaled CO, exhaled NO, airway temperature, spirometry were measured before and after (in 1 min and 30 min) use of HTP or cigarette. In C group measures were performed before and after 5 min of simulation of smoking. HTPs causes immediate increase in DBP and HR (p<0.01; p=0.02). In T group increase of HR and decrease of saturation (p=0.01; p=0.04) were observed. Cigarette smoking causes decrease in exhaled NO (p<0.05) after 1 min by 1.7ppb. After 30 minutes the concentration of NO increased, reaching a level comparable to the initial values (p=0.07). Mean level of exhaled CO increased from 6.7ppm to 12.7ppm (p<0.01) in T group. Increase in airway temperature was observed in 30 min after using HTP and smoking cigarettes (33.5°C to 34.0°C, p=0.03; 33.8°C to 34.3°C, p=0.01). There were no changes in spirometry parameters (p>0.05). In C group any of the measured parameters did not change (p>0.05). There were differences in DBP and exhaled CO in measurement in 1 minute after use among H and C groups, respectively: 85.2mmHg vs 70.8mmHg, p=0.02; 6.1ppm vs 2.5ppm, p<0.01. The results showed short-term impact on health after using HTPs and traditional cigarettes.