Menthol-enhanced cytotoxicity of cigarette smoke demonstrated in two bioassay models
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Menthol-enhanced cytotoxicity of cigarette smoke demonstrated in two bioassay models Atsuko Noriyasu1, Tadashi Konishi2, Shinichi Mochizuki1, Kazuo Sakurai1, Yutaka Tanaike3, Ken Matsuyama3, Kazuya Uezu1 and Tomonori Kawano1*
Abstract Background: Cigarette smoke is harmful to human health at both cellular and genetic levels. Recently, a unique bioassay for smoke cytotoxicity using air pollution-sensitive plant cells (tobacco) has been proposed. Methods: Model plant cells (tobacco Bel-W3 cells) and human cells (alveolar epithelial A549 cells) suspended in fresh culture media were exposed to cigarette smoke sampled after lighting the tip of cigarettes (with vs. without menthol capsules) which were attached to a glass pipe connected to the cell-containing plastic tubes. Control cultures were also assessed. Results: After exposing tobacco plant cells to cigarette smoke, cell death occurred in a dose-dependent manner. Cell death was significantly enhanced by mentholated smoke, while menthol alone was shown to be inert suggesting that menthol synergistically contributes to the enhancement of cell death, initiated by smoke-associated compounds. The enhanced toxicity of mentholated smoke was confirmed in human alveolar epithelial A549 cells. Conclusions: Cigarette smoke cytotoxicity leading to cell death assessed in plant and human model cells was enhanced by menthol. Further research into these findings is encouraged. Keywords: Cell toxicity, Cigarette, Menthol, Smoke, Capsules
Introduction Study on the health effects of menthol cigarettes as compared to non-menthol cigarettes is an area of significant scientific interest as the sales of mentholated cigarettes in the US have increased considerably over the past 50 years, while menthol cigarettes are disproportionately used by youth [1-4]. Moreover, the existing literature suggests that mentholated cigarettes may be perceived as safer than non-mentholated cigarettes [5]. Cigarette smoke is known to be toxic and harmful to human health [6], both at cellular [7] and genetic levels [8]. Since cigarette smoke is derived from combustion of tobacco leaves, the chemical components in the smoke must be the mixture of (i) chemicals originally present in the tobacco leaves and (ii) the chemicals formed through combustion of the industrialized cigarette [9]. We have previously proposed a unique bioassay for * Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Faculty of Environmental Engineering, University of Kitakyushu, Kitakyushu, Japan Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
cigarette smoke cytotoxicity using the cells of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) [10]. By employing the air pollution-sensitive Bel-W3 tobacco cells as model materials for cigarette smoke toxicity assay, the impact of combustion by-products such as nitrogen oxides can be highlighted while the toxic impact of the chemicals native to tobacco plants such as nicotine [11] and phenolics [12] could be minimized or excluded in cell death mechanisms [10]. Our previo
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