Doctoral Research
Doctoral research comparing cigarette smokers, e-cigarette users and dual users, linking exposure to testosterone signaling, mitochondrial function and microRNA regulation
Does vaping change how the male body makes testosterone?
Millions of people vape. Very little is known about what the aerosol does to sexual and hormonal function. My thesis takes that question to people rather than to a model: it compares cigarette smokers, e-cigarette users and dual users, and asks whether their exposure tracks with the molecular systems that govern testosterone production.
Data collection and analysis in progressThree groups, one comparison
Most vaping research compares users against non-users. The more informative comparison is between the exposures themselves, because dual users carry both.
What I measure
Each endpoint is chosen because a mechanism predicts it, not because it is convenient to collect.
Testosterone signaling
Hormonal profile, and whether exposure tracks with the steroidogenic pathway rather than with smoking status alone.
Testosterone-related microRNAs
Circulating microRNAs that regulate steroidogenic transcripts, as a readout upstream of the hormone itself.
Mitochondrial function
Steroidogenesis begins in the mitochondrion. If energy handling shifts, hormone synthesis has a route to follow it.
Blood cell and redox changes
Haematological and oxidative markers, to place any hormonal signal in its systemic context.
Sexual desire and dependence
The human endpoint. Comparative data across smokers, vapers and dual users, presented at the ISAM regional meeting.
Exposure characterization
What is actually inhaled, so that device and pattern are variables rather than assumptions.
The groundwork, already published
Before measuring anything in people, I mapped what each endpoint could plausibly show, and where the existing evidence runs out. These reviews are the mechanistic basis for the design above.
On results. The comparative data from this thesis are not published yet, so no findings appear on this page. When they are reported, they will be linked here and on the Publications page.