Flavor-Specific Enhancement of Electronic Cigarette Liquid Consumption and Preference in Mice
The use of electronic cigarettes has increased significantly over the past decade. To determine how the abuse liability of electronic cigarette liquids (e-liquids) differs from nicotine alone, and to determine the impact of flavor, we compared nicotine-containing fruit and tobacco-flavored e-liquids, and their nicotine-free versions. To assess this impact mice voluntarily consumed oral nicotine, equivalent nicotine concentrations of fruit- and tobacco-flavored e-liquid, and equivalent dilutions of the nicotine-free versions in 2-bottle choice tests. This study showed that fruit flavored nicotine enhanced consumption and preference, while tobacco mimicked plain nicotine. It was also observed that flavoring alone wasn't driving this consumption, nicotine free versions of fruit flavors only saw enhanced consumption at very high nicotine concentrations.