A new study from the University of California, Riverside warns against the use of menthol-flavored e-cigarettes by pregnant women, citing potential risks to embryonic development and the heightened chance of birth defects.
As vaping gains popularity, a critical gap in understanding its impact on pregnancy persists. New research from the University of California, Riverside has unveiled alarming evidence about menthol-flavored electronic cigarettes posing potential risks to unborn babies.
Published in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine, the study leveraged human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) to investigate the effects of menthol, a common flavoring agent in e-cigarettes, on early stages of embryonic development.
The researchers found the concentration of menthol in the blood of pregnant women who vape is enough to activate stress-related channels called Transient Receptor Potential channels in the hESCs.
The activation of these channels led to critical disruptions in cell growth, increased cell death and abnormal cell movement. Such disturbances could interfere with gastrulation, a vital developmental process, heightening the risk of birth defects.
Transient Receptor Potential channels are essential cellular components involved in sensing and responding to various stimuli, including temperature and pressure. The study highlighted that even nanomolar concentrations of menthol could activate the TRPA1 channel, potentially impacting embryonic cells.
Lead author Shabnam Etemadi, a bioengineering graduate student, elaborated on the importance of gastrulation, explaining that it is a process that forms the three primary germ layers — ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm — within the first few weeks of development.
“These germ layers serve as the building blocks for all future organs and tissues in the embryo; any disruption during this stage can lead to significant structural birth defects due to the misallocation of cells destined for specific tissues and organs,” Etamadi said in a news release.
Senior author Prue Talbot, a professor at the graduate division, pointed out that further research is needed to determine how vaping during pregnancy may harm embryonic and fetal development.
“The use of e-cigarettes by pregnant women should be discouraged until the effects on their embryos of flavor chemicals, such as menthol, are fully understood,” Talbot said in the news release.
This research, supported by the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program and the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine, underscores the urgent need for further studies examining the impact of vaping on embryonic and fetal development.