# Cardiac Toxicity of Flavorings in Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA · 2024 · $448,500

## Abstract

CARDIAC TOXICITY OF FLAVORINGS IN ELECTRONIC NICOTINE DELIVERY SYSTEMS
Tobacco cigarette smoking is on the decline, but the usage of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) is
gaining popularity, specifically in the teen and young adult age groups. While the cardiac toxicity of tobacco
cigarette smoking has been widely studied and is well established, the possible cardiac toxicity of ENDS
products and their design characteristics, such as added flavorings, are largely underexplored. For instance, a
form of electronic nicotine delivery known as vaping, uses “e-liquid” in order to generate “e-vapor”, an inhalable
smoke-like aerosolized mixture containing nicotine and flavors. Here, we propose to investigate how e-liquids
with different flavors affect cardiac in-vitro and in-vivo toxicity, in cell culture and in animal models. Our
hypothesis is that inhalation exposure to e-liquid flavorings increases cardiac oxidative stress, leading
to electrophysiological toxicity and arrhythmogenesis. We will conduct our studies in three aims: 1)- To
investigate the in-vitro cardiac harm and toxicity of e-liquid flavorings, 2)- To investigate the in-vivo cardiac
harm and toxicity of e-liquid flavorings, and 3)- To investigate the role of oxidative stress in mediating the
cardiac toxicity of e-liquid flavorings. We believe that this proposal will produce new, useful and focused
insights into the potential in-vivo and in-vitro adverse effects of e-liquid flavorings using functional and cellular
indicators of cardiac harm. Our findings will hopefully be valuable in increasing our understanding of whether
the flavoring aspect of ENDS products design could cause cardiac in- vivo and in- vitro toxicities.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10919787
- **Project number:** 5R01ES032099-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
- **Principal Investigator:** Sami Fouad Noujaim
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $448,500
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10919787

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10919787, Cardiac Toxicity of Flavorings in Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (5R01ES032099-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10919787. Licensed CC0.

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