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. 2016 Nov 17;13(12):923-928.
doi: 10.7150/ijms.17042. eCollection 2016.

Menthol inhibiting parasympathetic function of tracheal smooth muscle

Hsing-Won Wang  1 , Shao-Cheng Liu  2 , Pin-Zhir Chao  3 , Fei-Peng Lee  3
Affiliations

Menthol inhibiting parasympathetic function of tracheal smooth muscle

Hsing-Won Wang et al. Int J Med Sci. .

Abstract

Menthol is used as a constituent of food and drink, tobacco and cosmetics nowadays. This cold receptor agonist has been used as a nasal inhalation solution in the daily life. The effect of menthol on nasal mucosa in vivo is well known; however, the effect of the drug on tracheal smooth muscle has been rarely explored. Therefore, during administration of the drug for nasal symptoms, it might also affect the trachea via oral intake or inhalation. We used our preparation to test the effectiveness of menthol on isolated rat tracheal smooth muscle. A 5 mm long portion of rat trachea was submersed in 30 ml Krebs solution in a muscle bath at 37ºC. Changes in tracheal contractility in response to the application of a parasympathetic mimetic agent were measured using a transducer connected to a Pentium III computer equipped with polygraph software. The following assessments of menthol were performed: (1) effect on tracheal smooth muscle resting tension; (2) effect on contraction caused by 10-6 M methacholine as a parasympathetic mimetic; (3) effect of the drug on electrically induced tracheal smooth muscle contractions. Results indicated that addition of a parasympathetic mimetic to the incubation medium caused the trachea to contract in a dose-dependent manner. Addition of menthol at doses of 10-5 M or above elicited a relaxation response to 10-6 M methacholine-induced contraction. Menthol could also inhibit electrical field stimulation (EFS) induced spike contraction. However, it alone had a minimal effect on the basal tension of trachea as the concentration increased. We concluded that the degree of drug-induced tracheal contraction or relaxation was dose-dependent. In addition, this study indicated that high concentrations of menthol might actually inhibit parasympathetic function of the trachea.

Keywords: in vitro study.; menthol; smooth muscle; trachea.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts to declare pertaining to this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic diagram and actual photo describing the measurement of tension in isolated rat tracheal smooth muscle.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Tension changes in the rat trachea after the application of various menthol concentrations. Basal tension was 0.3 g.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Original recording of the effects of menthol on 10-6 M methacholine-induced contraction of rat trachea.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effects of menthol on 10-6 M methacholine-induced contraction (contraction area was calculated at 100% with no addition of menthol) of rat trachea. The difference of tension between 10-8 M menthol and 10-5 M menthol or 10-4 M menthol was statically significant (P<0.05). Results were mean ± SD (n = 6).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Original recording of the effects of menthol on electrically induced tracheal smooth muscle contractions was noted. Higher doses of menthol also decreased the spike contraction induced by EFS, and the basal tension was increased at the same time.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Effects of menthol on electrically induced tracheal smooth muscle contractions (contraction area was calculated at 100% with no addition of menthol). The peak tension values of the tracheal strip evoked by EFS during the addition of 10-5 M and 10-4 M menthol were significantly lower than that at the addition of 10-8 M menthol (P<0.001). Results were mean ± SD (n = 6).
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