Department of Biomedical Sciences, Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, Marshall University, Huntington, WV 25703, USA.
Molecules. 2020 Sep 15;25(18):4223. doi: 10.3390/molecules25184223.
Over the past two decades, combustible cigarette smoking has slowly declined by nearly 11% in America; however, the use of electronic cigarettes has increased tremendously, including among adolescents. While nicotine is the main addictive component of tobacco products and a primary concern in electronic cigarettes, this is not the only constituent of concern. There is a growing market of flavored products and a growing use of zero-nicotine e-liquids among electronic cigarette users. Accordingly, there are few studies that examine the impact of flavors on health and behavior. Menthol has been studied most extensively due to its lone exception in combustible cigarettes. Thus, there is a broad understanding of the neurobiological effects that menthol plus nicotine has on the brain including enhancing nicotine reward, altering nicotinic acetylcholine receptor number and function, and altering midbrain neuron excitability. Although flavors other than menthol were banned from combustible cigarettes, over 15,000 flavorants are available for use in electronic cigarettes. This review seeks to summarize the current knowledge on nicotine addiction and the various brain regions and nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subtypes involved, as well as describe the most recent findings regarding menthol and green apple flavorants, and their roles in nicotine addiction and vaping-related behaviors.
在过去的二十年中，可燃香烟在美国的使用率已缓慢下降了近 11%；然而，电子烟的使用却大大增加，包括在青少年中。尼古丁是烟草产品的主要成瘾成分，也是电子烟的主要关注点，但它不是唯一需要关注的成分。调味产品的市场不断增长，电子烟使用者中越来越多地使用零尼古丁电子烟液。因此，很少有研究考察口味对健康和行为的影响。由于薄荷醇是可燃香烟中的唯一例外，因此对其进行了最广泛的研究。因此，人们对薄荷醇加尼古丁对大脑的神经生物学影响有了广泛的了解，包括增强尼古丁奖赏、改变烟碱型乙酰胆碱受体数量和功能以及改变中脑神经元兴奋性。尽管除薄荷醇以外的其他口味已被禁止用于可燃香烟，但电子烟中可用的香料超过 15000 种。本综述旨在总结目前关于尼古丁成瘾以及涉及的各种大脑区域和烟碱型乙酰胆碱受体亚型的知识，并描述最近关于薄荷醇和青苹果香料的发现，以及它们在尼古丁成瘾和与蒸气相关的行为中的作用。
