NEWS
IONTOX and British
American Tobacco to study
health impact of tobacco
and nicotine products
US-based biotech company IONTOX
and British American Tobacco have
joined forces to study the impact of
tobacco and nicotine products on
lung health.
Cigarette smoking is associated with
a number of diseases that can impact
the lung, such as cancer and chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD.)
COPD is a progressive form of lung
disease characterized by a restriction
of airflow into and out of the lungs
that makes breathing difficult.
The mechanisms by which these diseases
develop are not completely understood.
IONTOX is currently developing a model
that simulates multiple human organs
with a simulated blood system. This
collaboration will seek to understand
the impact of the liver on tobacco and
nicotine mixtures and how this impacts
lung health.
The collaboration will use a multiple
organ plate consisting of a human lung
model linked to a human liver model to
investigate what chemicals are passed
from the lung to the liver and then back
to the lung following exposure.
When chemicals reach the liver they
are often broken down or metabolised.
These break-down compounds are then
returned to the blood system, which
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eventually brings them back to the lung.
The question is whether any of the
original compounds inhaled into the
lung are converted into potentially more
toxic intermediates in the liver and what
impact this has on lung health?
‘This product provides the first system
that can test the fate and effects of
‘This product provides the
first system that can test the
fate and effects of drugs,
chemicals, and personal
care products in a multiorgan environment with a
fluidics system that mimics
blood flow’
drugs, chemicals, and personal care
products in a multi-organ environment
with a fluidics system that mimics blood
flow,’ said Dr. James McKim Founder
and President of IONTOX.
‘We are excited to be collaborating
with scientists at British American
Tobacco on the development of a
human lung-liver-lung kinetic model for
studying next generation tobacco and
nicotine products. The knowledge and
experience that they bring to the project
in the area of lung models and inhalation
exposure systems will be invaluable to
the success of this endeavour,’ he said.
Dr. Marianna Gaca, Pre-Clinical
Assessment Manager at British American
Tobacco added: ‘We are pleased to be
collaborating with IONTOX to develop
and apply dynamic multiple-organplate technologies. This approach will
complement and enhance our current
in vitro methods and support the
assessment of e-cigarettes and other next
generation tobacco heated products.’
Many in the public health community
believe that e-cigarettes represent an
historical opportunity to save millions of
lives and drastically reduce the public
health burden of smoking-related diseases.
Public Health England recently
published a report saying that the
current expert estimate is that using
e-cigarettes is around 95% safer than
smoking cigarettes, although more
research is needed.
The Royal College of Physicians have
said that the public can be reassured
that e-cigarettes are much safer then
smoking and that they should be
widely promoted as an alternative
to conventional cigarettes.