Academic Journal
Plasma menthol delivery from a heated tobacco product predicts substitution for menthol cigarettes.
| Τίτλος: | Plasma menthol delivery from a heated tobacco product predicts substitution for menthol cigarettes. |
|---|---|
| Συγγραφείς: | White AM; Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States; Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States. Electronic address: gus.white@vumc.org., Eid T; School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States., Imran R; Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States., Gaitan N; Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States., Cobb CO; Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States., Barnes AJ; Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States. |
| Πηγή: | Drug and alcohol dependence [Drug Alcohol Depend] 2026 Sep 01; Vol. 286, pp. 113272. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Jul 15. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article; Randomized Controlled Trial |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Elsevier Country of Publication: Ireland NLM ID: 7513587 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1879-0046 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 03768716 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Drug Alcohol Depend Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: Limerick : Elsevier Original Publication: Lausanne, Elsevier Sequoia. |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Menthol*/blood , Menthol*/administration & dosage , Tobacco Products*, Nicotine/blood ; Nicotine/administration & dosage ; Glucuronides/blood ; Humans ; Male ; Female ; Adult ; Hot Temperature ; Young Adult |
| Περίληψη: | Background: Substitution between tobacco products depends on similarity in abuse liability profiles, particularly pharmacologic reinforcement. While nicotine delivery has been extensively characterized in the literature, the contribution of menthol delivery remains poorly understood. This study examined menthol exposure from a heated tobacco product (IQOS) and assessed whether plasma menthol delivery predicts willingness to substitute it for menthol cigarettes. Methods: This exploratory analysis used data from a randomized, parallel-group, 14-day clinical trial of adults who smoke menthol cigarettes (N = 22). Participants used their own-brand menthol cigarettes (Week 1), then were randomized to use IQOS with Fresh Menthol (IQOS-M) or Regular/Tobacco (IQOS-T) HeatSticks (Week 2). Plasma nicotine and menthol glucuronide were measured before and after a laboratory-based 10-puff directed use bout. Substitution was assessed via the cross-price elasticity (CPE) of IQOS relative to menthol cigarettes in the Experimental Tobacco Marketplace task. Results: IQOS-M boosted plasma menthol glucuronide levels more than IQOS-T (18.9 versus 0.2ng/mL, p < 0.01), while nicotine delivery did not differ significantly. The CPE of IQOS was greater in the IQOS-M group than in the IQOS-T group (0.8 versus 0.0; p = 0.03), indicating greater substitutability. Menthol glucuronide boosts were positively associated with CPE (τ=0.32, p = 0.03), whereas nicotine boosts were not significantly associated (τ=0.19, p = 0.20). Conclusions: IQOS can deliver high levels of menthol, and menthol delivery predicted willingness to substitute this heated tobacco product for menthol cigarettes. These findings highlight the importance of non-nicotine constituents in shaping abuse liability and have direct implications for the regulation of tobacco products. (Copyright © 2026. Published by Elsevier B.V.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Augustus M White reports financial support was provided by National Institute on Drug Abuse. Andrew J Barnes reports financial support was provided by National Institute on Drug Abuse. Caroline O Cobb reports financial support was provided by National Institute on Drug Abuse. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Abuse Liability; Behavioral Economics; Heated Tobacco Products; IQOS; Menthol Cigarettes; Menthol Glucuronide; Substitution |
| Substance Nomenclature: | 1490-04-6 (Menthol) 6M3C89ZY6R (Nicotine) 0 (Glucuronides) |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260720 Date Completed: 20260904 Latest Revision: 20260914 |
| Update Code: | 20260915 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2026.113272 |
| PMID: | 42475836 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1879-0046 |
|---|---|
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2026.113272 |