Respiratory tract menthol

For example, sol-gel immobilised bioactive liquids such as cineol, camphor, menthol, evening primrose and perilla oil used to functionalise textiles afford either skin-friendly textiles with antimicrobial and antiallergic effects due to immobilised natural oils or textiles for therapeutic treatment of the respiratory tract by means of immobilised mixtures of high volatility natural agents such as eucalyptol, camphor and menthol.27... 

Peppermint oil contains a large percentage of menthol (30-55%). Any question that the laryngeal irritation may be related to the presence of menthol within peppermint oil is doubtful because a recent chronic rat inhalation study has shown that 5000 ppm of menthol had no substantial effect on the histopathological changes in the respiratory tract normally associated with inhalation of mainstream cigarette smoke. ... 

Uses Source of turpentine oil and gum rosin natural flavoring agent in foods, pharmaceuticals solvent in shoe polishes, printing inks, cleaning compds., waxes, paper prods., cosmetics solvent, thinnerfor paints, lacquers solvent, reclaiming agent for rubber synthesis of camphor and menthol medicines (liniments) perfumery pesticide mfg. pharmaceutical solvent rubefacient diuretic preps, for respiratory tract disorders in food-pkg. adhesives... 

In 1992, Sloan et al. conducted breath-hold experiments with 20 healthy volunteers. The ingestion of a lozenge containing 11 mg of menthol signi cantly increased the hold time, indicating a depression of the ventilatory drive. It was later postulated by Eccles (2000) that in addition to chemoreceptors detecting oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood, cold receptors in the respiratory tract may also modulate the drive to breathe. 

Another commercial preparation Pinimenthol , a mixture of eucalyptus and pine needle oils plus menthol, reduced bronchospasm and demonstrated signi cant secretolytic effects when insuf ated through the respiratory tract and when applied to the epilated skin of animals (Schafer and Schafer, 1981). In addition to the known effects of menthol and 1,8-cineole, pine needle oil is considered to be weakly antiseptic and secretolytic (Commission E, 1998). 

Of the literature published in peer-reviewed journals over the last 30 years, only a small percentage concerns the administration of essential oils or their components to humans in order to treat disease processes. These reports are listed below in alphabetical order of their activity. The exception is the section on the respiratory tract, where the many activities of the two principal components (menthol and 1,8-cineole) are discussed and related to respiratory pathologies. 

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