Electronic nicotine delivery system use and expectorated sputum microbiota in Lebanese adults: A Pilot Study

Both groups shared broadly similar dominant bacterial profiles with Bacillota, Pseudomonadota, and Bacteroidota among the most abundant phyla. Moreover, there was substantial overlap at the genus level. Despite these broad similarities, selective taxonomic differences were observed at finer resolutions including increased relative abundance of Nanosynbacter and decreased abundance of a putative Rothia species-level taxon among ENDS users after FDR correction.

Actinomyces showed a nominal increase in ENDS users, but this did not remain significant after FDR correction. These findings suggest that ENDS use was not associated with broad sputum microbiota disruption in this cohort but may be associated with selective shifts in specific bacterial taxa.