Real-Time Measurement and Uptake of Carcinogens by Menthol Cigarette Smokers

描述（由申请人提供）：薄荷脑是制造商积极销售的唯一卷烟添加剂，特别受到年轻人和少数民族/种族的青睐。越来越多的证据表明，薄荷醇香烟是青年的入门产品，阻碍戒烟，增加戒烟后的复发，并通过不断向有色人种社区有针对性地推销这些产品来破坏社会正义。将薄荷香烟的使用与烟草相关疾病的风险增加联系起来一直很困难。一般来说，用于试图建立这种联系的流行病学研究一直没有定论，而基于实验室的研究由于无法让已建立的薄荷醇或非薄荷醇吸烟者在必要的时间内使用相反的香烟风格来比较经典的毒性措施而受到阻碍，并且所获得的结果好坏参半。其中一个主要原因可能在于这些测试中使用的商业香烟。由于香烟是如此高度工程化，薄荷醇和非薄荷醇香烟之间可能有许多差异，除了薄荷醇水平。研究人员以前的工作在薄荷醇和非薄荷醇香烟中产生了一些有趣的对比，但尚不清楚这些差异是单独薄荷醇化的影响，还是商业香烟特性中的许多其他可能差异。为了充分研究香烟薄荷醇化的效果，我们需要测试仅在薄荷醇含量上不同的香烟。这项研究的具体目的是确定吸烟的急性影响，除了薄荷醇的水平外，其他香烟都是等效的。总的目标是建立有效的测试方法，而不需要长时间的接触和遵守长期协议。因此，我们将表征除了薄荷醇水平的变化之外相同的一组香烟。香烟是一种商业非薄荷醇香烟，其以低水平和高水平薄荷醇化，以及Camel Crush，一种在过滤嘴中具有小薄荷醇颗粒的非薄荷醇香烟，当压碎时，将薄荷醇释放到过滤嘴中。在对香烟进行化学表征之后，将采用受试者内设计进行实时人体毒性测量，以评估人体暴露于选定的烟雾相关毒素/致癌物。最后，为了产生受试者特定的烟雾排放并估计烟雾相关毒素/致癌物的摄取，将对吸烟机进行编程以抽吸测试香烟，并将比较每种测试香烟的烟雾排放。 公共卫生相关性：这项工作具有公共卫生意义，因为尽管非洲裔美国人每天吸烟较少，而且往往比欧洲裔美国人开始吸烟的年龄晚，但他们因吸烟相关疾病而死亡的人数更高。与欧美吸烟者相比，大多数非裔美国人吸烟者更喜欢吸食薄荷香烟，年轻吸烟者对薄荷香烟的偏好甚至更高。薄荷香烟的使用被认为是这种疾病差异的原因，但传统流行病学和其他研究的证据很弱。本研究将确定单独使用薄荷醇是否会导致吸烟模式、烟雾排放、暴露生物标志物和/或选择的毒素/致癌物摄取的差异。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Menthol, the only cigarette additive that is actively marketed by manufacturers, is particularly favored by youth and ethnic/racial minorities. There is growing evidence that menthol cigarettes are starter products for youth, impede cessation, increase relapse following cessation and undermine social justice by the incessant targeted marketing of these products to communities of color. Tying menthol cigarette use to increased risk of tobacco-related diseases has been difficult. Generally, epidemiologic studies that have been used to try to make that connection have been inconclusive, whereas laboratory-based studies have been hampered by the inability to get established menthol or non-menthol smokers to use the opposite cigarette style for the extended periods necessary to compare classic measures of toxicity, and results obtained have been mixed. A major reason for this may lie with the commercial cigarettes that were used in these tests. Because cigarettes are so highly engineered, there are likely many differences between menthol and non-menthol cigarettes other than menthol levels. The investigators' previous work has resulted in some intriguing contrasts in menthol and non-menthol cigarettes, but it cannot be known if the differences were the result of the effects of mentholation alone, or the many other possible differences in the properties of commercial cigarettes. To adequately study the effect of mentholation of cigarettes, we need to test cigarettes that differ only in menthol content. The specific aims of this research are to determine the acute effects of smoking cigarettes that are equivalent except for levels of menthol. The over-all goal is to establish methods for testing which are valid without requiring prolonged periods of exposure and compliance with long-duration protocols. We will therefore characterize a set of cigarettes that are the same except for variation in menthol levels. The cigarettes are a commercial non-menthol cigarette that is mentholated at a low level and a high level, and Camel Crush, a non-menthol cigarette with a small menthol pellet in the filter which, when crushed, releases menthol into the filter. Chemical characterization of the cigarettes will be followed by real-time human toxicity measurements in a within-subjects design, to assess human exposure to select smoke-related toxins/carcinogens. Finally, to generate subject-specific smoke emissions and estimate uptake of smoke- related toxins/carcinogens, a smoking machine will be programmed to smoke the test cigarettes, and smoke emissions of each of the test cigarettes will be compared. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This work has public health implications because, although African Americans smoke fewer cigarettes per day and tend to begin smoking later in life than do Euro-Americans, their smoking-related mortality from diseases associated with tobacco use is higher. The majority of African American smokers prefer smoking mentholated cigarettes compared to Euro-Americans smokers, and the preference for menthol cigarettes is even higher among younger smokers. Use of menthol cigarettes has been implicated as a cause of this disease disparity, but evidence from traditional epidemiologic and other studies has been weak. This study will determine if mentholation alone results in differences in smoking patterns, smoke emissions, biomarkers of exposure, and/or uptake of select toxins/carcinogens.