A Method for Amending Loose Smokeless Tobacco With Menthol for Administration in Clinical Studies

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Menthol has long been incorporated as a flavor additive in tobacco products and can impact use behaviors. Despite its inclusion in some of the most popular flavored smokeless tobacco (ST) products (eg, “mint” flavored products), few studies have systematically investigated the impact of menthol on ST use behaviors in prospective empirical studies. Rigorous investigation of ST menthol content on behavioral and physiological outcomes requires ST products with stable and precise levels of menthol; however, commercial product composition variability prevents product comparisons when evaluating the effects of systematic changes in menthol content on clinical outcomes. Aims and Methods We developed amended loose moist snuff ST products by treating commercially available, unflavored loose ST with an ethanol-based menthol spiking solution or a nonmentholated ethanol control solution to develop test products with different levels of menthol: 0, 1, 3, and 5 mg menthol/g tobacco. We evaluated the stability of menthol content in these products over 24 months and evaluated menthol exposure associated with the products through pharmacokinetic analysis of plasma menthol-glucuronide in human participants (n = 22). Results Menthol content of the amended products was on target, homogenous, and stable for up to 24 months. Menthol exposure (menthol-glucuronide Cmax and AUC) significantly differed between each test product. Conclusions These data suggest that stable products with nonoverlapping menthol content can be developed using a menthol spiking solution and can be subsequently administered for clinical assessments of mentholated loose ST. Implications The results from this study suggest that a menthol spiking solution can be used to mentholate unflavored, loose ST to a target menthol content. With this method, the ST menthol content was stable for at least 24 months, and the products exposed users to menthol in a dose-dependent manner. This method yielded loose ST products with precise, stable levels of menthol to allow systematic evaluation of ST menthol content on clinical outcomes. The method may have applications for systematically evaluating changes in other tobacco product ingredients.