About this Research Topic
Tobacco use accounts for nearly seven million deaths per year worldwide and is one of the leading preventable causes of death. One component of tobacco products that has been shown to facilitate and exacerbate use and drive people toward nicotine dependence is the addition of flavorants, such as menthol and candy flavors, to tobacco products. Menthol smokers, for example, are more likely to smoke their first cigarette of the day and have higher relapse rates evidenced by more frequent quit attempts relative to non-menthol smoking counterparts. The growing use of candy flavored e-cigarettes among adolescent smokers is concerning as the impact of these flavors on tobacco addiction is less understood, and the highly appetitive nature of these candy flavors may lead to more, and potentially even more addicted, smokers.
A more mechanistic understanding, at the neural, behavioral, and public health level, of how added flavorants influence tobacco use is needed. So far, advances from preclinical and human subject research have converged in showing that flavorants, such as menthol, may alter the function of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors within the mesolimbic dopamine system, and evidence is accumulating that these receptor changes may enhance the rewarding or reinforcing properties of nicotine. Further studies investigating flavorant effects within and beyond the mesolimbic dopamine system at the molecular, cellular, or systems level, direct pharmacological studies in human smokers, links between neural changes to behavioral changes, and epidemiological data are needed.
By welcoming studies across a wide variety of disciplines that intersect or contribute to behavior and pharmacology/neuropharmacology, we will be able to develop a more holistic and mechanistic view of menthol and flavor actions in the context of tobacco use. We target submissions that (1) contribute novel original preclinical or human subject research articles assessing the behavioral or neural effects of menthol or other flavorants either by themselves or in combination with nicotine administration. This may include behavioral pharmacological studies in animals and humans, studies that examine molecular, cellular, or systems level changes in the brain, survey data which capturing effects of flavorant additions on tobacco use, as well as evidence from social science, public health, or data science approaches. (2) include negative findings or studies that contain some aspects of direct replication of prior work, and (3) contain meta-analyses or reviews that conform with the aim of the topic. Studies examining how flavorants influence oral tobacco consumption are also welcome.
A more mechanistic understanding, at the neural, behavioral, and public health level, of how added flavorants influence tobacco use is needed. So far, advances from preclinical and human subject research have converged in showing that flavorants, such as menthol, may alter the function of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors within the mesolimbic dopamine system, and evidence is accumulating that these receptor changes may enhance the rewarding or reinforcing properties of nicotine. Further studies investigating flavorant effects within and beyond the mesolimbic dopamine system at the molecular, cellular, or systems level, direct pharmacological studies in human smokers, links between neural changes to behavioral changes, and epidemiological data are needed.
By welcoming studies across a wide variety of disciplines that intersect or contribute to behavior and pharmacology/neuropharmacology, we will be able to develop a more holistic and mechanistic view of menthol and flavor actions in the context of tobacco use. We target submissions that (1) contribute novel original preclinical or human subject research articles assessing the behavioral or neural effects of menthol or other flavorants either by themselves or in combination with nicotine administration. This may include behavioral pharmacological studies in animals and humans, studies that examine molecular, cellular, or systems level changes in the brain, survey data which capturing effects of flavorant additions on tobacco use, as well as evidence from social science, public health, or data science approaches. (2) include negative findings or studies that contain some aspects of direct replication of prior work, and (3) contain meta-analyses or reviews that conform with the aim of the topic. Studies examining how flavorants influence oral tobacco consumption are also welcome.
Keywords: Nicotine, Addiction, Menthol, Flavorants, Smoking, Reinforcement, Cigarettes, Tobacco
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
