GSE125259
Transcriptomic and barrier responses of human airway epithelial cells exposed to cannabis smoke with and without LABA/GC intervention
Purpose: Globally, many jurisdictions are legalizing or decriminalizing cannabis, creating a potential public health issue that would benefit from experimental evidence to inform policy, government regulations, and user practices. Tobacco smoke exposure science has created a body of knowledge that demonstrates the conclusive negative impacts on respiratory health; similar knowledge remains to be established for cannabis. To address this unmet need, we performed in vitro functional and transcriptomic experiments with a human airway epithelial cell line (Calu-3) exposed to cannabis smoke, with tobacco smoke as a positive control. Results: We demonstrate that cannabis smoke induced functional and transcriptional responses that overlapped with tobacco smoke. Ontology and pathway analysis revealed that cannabis smoke induced DNA replication and oxidative stress responses. Functionally, cannabis smoke impaired epithelial cell barrier function, antiviral responses, and increased inflammatory mediator production. Our study reveals striking similarities between cannabis and tobacco smoke exposure on impairing barrier function, suppressing antiviral pathways, potentiating of pro-inflammatory mediators, and inducing oncogenic and oxidative stress gene expression signatures. LABA/GC intervention in airway epithelial cells exposed to cannabis smoke reduces levels of pro-inflammatory (CXCL8) and antiviral (CXCL10) mediators, while transcriptomic signatures of neutrophil mediated immunity and oxidative stress remain elevated. Conclusions: Collectively our data suggest that cannabis smoke exposure is not innocuous and may possess many of the deleterious properties of tobacco smoke, warranting additional studies to support public policy, government regulations, and user practices. Overall design: mRNA profiles of Calu-3 cells exposed to 10% cannabis smoke extract (CSE) with and without formoterol/budesonide intervention compared to 10% tobacco smoke extract (TSE) and control (both also with and without formoterol/budesonide intervention) were generated by deep sequencing, with 4 biological replicates per exposure, using Illumina 2500.