Abstract 18837: Association of Urinary Catecholamines and Their Metabolites With the Use of Electronic and Combustible Cigarettes

Nicotine, present in combustible cigarettes, is a strong sympathomimetic drug, and many of the cardiovascular and metabolic effects of smoking have been linked to increases in catecholamine production. However, it is not known whether vaping also leads to an increased catecholamine formation. Therefore, we measured the urinary catecholamines and their metabolites associated with vaping and smoking, or no tobacco use. Healthy adults 18-45 yoa who use tobacco products were asked to vape for every 30sec for 10min, smoke 1 cigarette, or inhale through a straw (sham) prior to providing urine samples three times: before tobacco use (T0), one hour (T1), and two hours (T2) after tobacco exposure. Catecholamines and their metabolites were measured in urine samples containing internal standards analyzed on a LC/MS/MS. Participants were categorized by the product used at the study visit: combustible cigarettes (n=70), e-cigarette (n=171), or sham use of a straw (n=82). Log transformed catecholamines and metabolites, normalized to urinary creatinine, were compared among each tobacco use group. Generalized linear models were used to estimate the associations between the outcomes and tobacco product use at each time point, adjusting for age, race and sex seen in table 1. At T0, smoking was associated with lower metanephrine, 5-hydroxindole-3-acetic acid, and vanillymandelic acid. At T1, after vaping normetanephrine and 3-methoxytyramine, epinephrine and homovanillic acid were higher. After smoking, norepinephrine, dopamine, normetnephrine, epinephrine and homovanillic acid were higher at T1. Whereas at T2 there was lower 5-hydroxindole-3-acetic acid in e-cigarette users. Our findings that both vaping and smoking are associated with increased urinary catecholamines or their metabolites, suggesting that the use of either product could elevate CVD risk due to repeated sympathetic stimulation. Catecholamines could be useful as a biomarker of harm for tobacco use.