Toxicological Assessment In Vitro

Abstract Electronic nicotine delivery products (ENDPs) emit lower levels of toxicants than cigarettes, and, consequently, ENPD aerosols have the potential to be less toxic than cigarette smoke (CS). Toxicological assessment of ENDPs relies heavily on in vitro studies to verify this assertion. First, a battery of standardized and validated regulatory toxicology assays is used to verify that ENDP aerosols are less cytotoxic and genotoxic than CS. Second, a systems toxicology approach is employed to gain a deeper understanding of the biological mechanisms affected by CS. This knowledge then allows quantification of the effects of ENDP aerosols on the mechanisms perturbed by CS and identification of potential new effects of ENDP aerosols. While regulatory toxicology assays rely on standardized prokaryotic and mammalian cells, systems toxicology aims to employ in vitro systems derived from primary human cells and more closely recapitulate the key features of human tissues and mechanisms linked to smoking-related diseases. This chapter presents the experimental requirements, summarizes the results, and discusses the challenges of in vitro assessment of ENDPs.