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Silva H. Current Knowledge on the Vascular Effects of Menthol. Front Physiol 2020; 11:298. [PMID: 32317987 PMCID: PMC7154148 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2020.00298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2019] [Accepted: 03/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Menthol is a monoterpene alcohol, widely used in several food and healthcare products for its particular odor and flavor. For some decades, menthol has been known to act on the vasculature directly in the endothelium and vascular smooth muscle, with recent studies showing that it also evokes an indirect vascular response via sensory fibers. The mechanisms underlying menthol's vascular action are complex due to the diversity of cellular targets, to the interplay between signaling pathways and to the variability in terms of response. Menthol can evoke either a perfusion increase or decrease in vivo in different vascular territories, an observation that warrants a critical discussion. Menthol vascular actions in vivo seem to depend on whether the vascular territory under analysis has been directly provoked with menthol or is located deep/distant to the application site. Menthol increases perfusion of directly provoked skin regions due to a complex interplay of increased nitric oxide (NO), endothelium-derived hyperpolarization factors (EDHFs) and sensory nerve responses. In non-provoked vascular beds menthol decreases perfusion which might be attributed to heat-conservation sympathetically-mediated vasoconstriction, although an increase in tissue evaporative heat loss due the formulation ethanol may also play a role. There is increasing evidence that several of menthol's cellular targets are involved in cardiovascular diseases, such as hypertension. Thus menthol and pharmacologically-similar drugs can play important preventive and therapeutic roles, which merits further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Henrique Silva
- CBIOS - Universidade Lusófona’s Research Center for Biosciences and Health Technologies, Lisboa, Portugal
- Pharmacol. Sc Depart - Universidade de Lisboa, Faculty of Pharmacy, Lisboa, Portugal
- Department for Management of Science and Technology Development, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- Faculty of Pharmacy, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
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Kozlovich S, Chen G, Watson CJW, Blot WJ, Lazarus P. Role of l- and d-Menthol in the Glucuronidation and Detoxification of the Major Lung Carcinogen, NNAL. Drug Metab Dispos 2019; 47:1388-1396. [PMID: 31578206 DOI: 10.1124/dmd.119.088351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2019] [Accepted: 09/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Menthol, which creates mint flavor and scent, is often added to tobacco in both menthol and nonmenthol cigarettes. A potent tobacco carcinogen, 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK), is extensively metabolized to its equally carcinogenic metabolite 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL) as (R)- or (S)-NNAL enantiomers. NNAL is detoxified by UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) enzymes, with glucuronidation occurring on either NNAL's pyridine ring nitrogen (NNAL-N-Gluc) or the chiral alcohol [(R)- or (S)-NNAL-O-Gluc]. To characterize a potential effect by menthol on NNAL glucuronidation, in vitro menthol glucuronidation assays and menthol inhibition of NNAL-Gluc formation assays were performed. Additionally, NNAL and menthol glucuronides (MG) were measured in the urine of smokers (n = 100) from the Southern Community Cohort Study. UGTs 1A9, 1A10, 2A1, 2A2, 2A3, 2B4, 2B7, and 2B17 all exhibited glucuronidating activity against both l- and d-menthol. In human liver microsomes, both l- and d-menthol inhibited the formation of each NNAL-Gluc, with a stereospecific difference observed between the formation of (R)-NNAL-O-Gluc and (S)-NNAL-O-Gluc in the presence of d-menthol but not l-menthol. With the exception of three nonmenthol cigarette smokers, urinary MG was detected in all menthol and nonmenthol smokers, with l-MG comprising >98% of total urinary MG. Levels of urinary NNAL-N-Gluc were significantly (P < 0.05) lower among subjects with high levels of total urinary MG; no significant changes in free NNAL were observed. These data suggest that the presence of menthol could lead to increases in alternative, activating metabolic pathways of NNAL in tobacco target tissues, increasing the opportunity for NNAL to damage DNA and lead to the development of tobacco-related cancers. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: High levels of the major menthol metabolite, menthol-glucuronide, was observed in the urine of smokers of either menthol or nonmenthol cigarettes. The fact that a significant inverse correlation was observed between the levels of urinary menthol-glucuronide and NNAL-N-glucuronide, a major detoxification metabolite of the tobacco carcinogen, NNK, suggests that menthol may inhibit clearance of this important tobacco carcinogen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shannon Kozlovich
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Washington State University, Spokane, Washington (S.K., G.C., C.J.W.W., P.L.); and Division of Epidemiology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee (W.J.B.)
| | - Gang Chen
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Washington State University, Spokane, Washington (S.K., G.C., C.J.W.W., P.L.); and Division of Epidemiology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee (W.J.B.)
| | - Christy J W Watson
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Washington State University, Spokane, Washington (S.K., G.C., C.J.W.W., P.L.); and Division of Epidemiology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee (W.J.B.)
| | - William J Blot
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Washington State University, Spokane, Washington (S.K., G.C., C.J.W.W., P.L.); and Division of Epidemiology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee (W.J.B.)
| | - Philip Lazarus
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Washington State University, Spokane, Washington (S.K., G.C., C.J.W.W., P.L.); and Division of Epidemiology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee (W.J.B.)
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Corvis Y, Négrier P, Massip S, Leger JM, Espeau P. Insights into the crystal structure, polymorphism and thermal behavior of menthol optical isomers and racemates. CrystEngComm 2012. [DOI: 10.1039/c2ce26025e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
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