Little evidence that "denicotinized" menthol cigarettes have pharmacological effects: an EEG/heart-rate/sujective-response study.
BACKGROUND
A substantial portion of cigarette smokers prefer menthol-flavored cigarettes. To date, however, no studies have examined whether menthol in cigarettes has central pharmacological effects.


OBJECTIVE
We investigated psychophysiological and subjective effects of smoking menthol versus non-menthol cigarettes in both menthol and non-menthol smokers. To assess these effects independently of the immediate effects of nicotine, all cigarettes employed were "denicotinized" (FTC nicotine yield = 0.06 mg).


METHODS
The psychophysiological measures were EEG and heart rate (HR). The subjective measures assessed mental alertness, muscular relaxation, anxiety/nervousness, and how much a participant wanted to smoke one of his usual brand of cigarettes. Menthol and non-menthol smokers participated in a single session in which each participant smoked both a menthol and a non-menthol denicotinized cigarette (order balanced across participants). The psychophysiological and subjective measures were recorded before and after smoking each cigarette.


RESULTS
Out of 48 F-ratios spanning 22 analyses of variance involving the critical interaction between pre-/post-smoking and menthol/non-menthol cigarette, only one unambiguously fit a "pharmacological" pattern, a result indistinguishable from a type-I statistical error. We report evidence that menthol smokers may be chronically less aroused and more sensitive to the effects of nicotine than non-menthol smokers.


CONCLUSIONS
We found little evidence that menthol in cigarettes has central pharmacological effects.
Pritchard
W S
WS
Psychophysiology Laboratory, Bowman Gray Technical Center 611-12, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, Winston-Salem, NC 27102, USA. pritchw@rjrt.com
Houlihan
M E
ME
Guy
T D
TD
Robinson
J H
JH
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002248:Carbon Monoxide / Q000032:analysis; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000523:psychology; D005421:Flavoring Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008610:Menthol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology*
D005421:Flavoring Agents; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs; D008610:Menthol; D002248:Carbon Monoxide