WEDNESDAY, Nov. 4, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Heated tobacco products (HTPs) are not biologically inert and a single exposure triggers effects, including vascular dysfunction, according to a study published online Oct. 27 in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
Lea Strohm, Ph.D., from the University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz in Germany, and colleagues supervised healthy adult smokers in their exposure to two consecutive HTP sticks. Endothelial function was measured using brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD), as well as hemodynamic parameters, venous blood gas, metabolic markers, and oxidative DNA damage.
The researchers observed a significant reduction in FMD with acute HTP exposure, indicating rapid endothelial dysfunction. In addition, there was an increase in systolic blood pressure, reductions in venous oxygen tension and saturation, and an increase in venous carbon dioxide; these changes were consistent with impaired tissue oxygenation. An increase was seen in methemoglobin levels, reflecting oxidative modification of hemoglobin; nicotine-mediated sympathetic and metabolic stress was suggested by metabolic alterations in glucose and lactate. Significant oxidative DNA damage in peripheral blood cells was induced by short-term HTP use. These effects occurred after single, real-world exposure.
"Our findings demonstrate that these products are not biologically inert," Strohm said in a statement. "Acute exposure was sufficient to induce vascular dysfunction, metabolic disturbances, and genetic damage in otherwise healthy smokers. These results challenge claims that heated tobacco products are substantially less harmful to the cardiovascular system compared with conventional cigarettes."
