Concurrent Chronic-Plus-Binge Alcohol Consumption and Nicotine Vaping Alter the Cardiac Ventricular Proteome in a Preclinical Mouse Model

TL;DR

This study shows that combining chronic alcohol use with nicotine vaping affects heart proteins in mice in complex, non-additive ways.

Contribution

The study reveals nonadditive effects of concurrent alcohol and nicotine vaping on cardiac proteomes in a preclinical model.

Findings

201 proteins were altered by ethanol, 101 by nicotine vaping, and 159 by combined exposure.

Both ethanol and nicotine vaping affected lipid homeostasis, extracellular matrix, and mitochondrial pathways.

Combined exposure showed nonadditive effects, suggesting interaction-dependent changes in protein expression.

Abstract

Nicotine vaping has surged in recent years, particularly among young adults, and is strongly linked with concurrent alcohol use. Separately, chronic excessive alcohol use drives hypertension and cardiomyopathy, while nicotine vaping is linked to a modest rise in cardiovascular disease incidence and mortality. However, little is known about how concurrent use interacts to affect protein expression in the cardiovascular system. The aim of this study was to determine differential cardiac protein expression in mice exposed to concurrent chronic-plus-binge alcohol and nicotine vaping use. Male C57BL6/J mice received a 20-day 5% ethanol diet with 5 g/kg ethanol binges on days 10 and 20, alongside isocaloric controls. During this period, they were also exposed nightly to either 5% nicotine salt vapor, vegetable glycerin/propylene glycol vehicle vapor, or room air. The left ventricular free wall was collected and analyzed using discovery-based proteomics and subsequent Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. A total of 3144 proteins were identified across all groups. Compared to air-exposed, control-fed mice, 201 proteins were significantly altered by ethanol, 101 proteins by nicotine vaping, and 159 proteins by combined exposure. Both ethanol and nicotine vaping influenced pathways involved in lipid homeostasis, extracellular matrix remodeling, and mitochondrial bioenergetics; however, these alterations did not uniformly manifest in the dual-use group. This pattern highlights the nonadditive and potentially interaction-dependent nature of alcohol and nicotine vaping effects on cardiovascular protein expression patterns that may contribute to a distinct functional phenotype.

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