Topical application of a P2X2/P2X3 purine receptor inhibitor suppresses the bitter taste of medicines and other taste qualities.

Background And Purpose: Many medications taste intensely bitter. The innate aversion to bitterness affects medical compliance, especially in children. There is a clear need to develop bitter blockers to suppress the bitterness of vital medications.

Worldwide study of the taste of bitter medicines and their modifiers.

The bitter taste of medicines hinders patient compliance, but not everyone experiences these difficulties because people worldwide differ in their bitterness perception. To better understand how people from diverse ancestries perceive medicines and taste modifiers, 338 adults, European and recent US and Canada immigrants from Asia, South Asia, and Africa, rated the bitterness intensity of taste solutions on a 100-point generalized visual analog scale and provided a saliva sample for genotyping. The taste solutions were five medicines, tenofovir alafenamide (TAF), moxifloxacin, praziquantel, amodiaquine, and propylthiouracil (PROP), and four other solutions, TAF mixed with sucralose (sweet, reduces bitterness) or 6-methylflavone (tasteless, reduces bitterness), sucralose alone, and sodium chloride alone.

Multiple Tobacco Product Use Among Youth E-Cigarette Users: National Youth Tobacco Survey, 2020.

Purpose: Limited information exists on multiple tobacco product use, particularly among youth. This study assessed the prevalence of current youth use of e-cigarettes with other tobacco products and their associated characteristics using 2020 National Youth Tobacco Survey data.

Methods: Prevalence estimates were calculated for current e-cigarette users, by multiple tobacco product use status and product combination.

Cardiovascular Outcomes among Combustible-Tobacco and Electronic Nicotine Delivery System (ENDS) Users in Waves 1 through 5 of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study, 2013-2019.

Background: Prior studies have not clearly established risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among smokers who switch to exclusive use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS). We compared cardiovascular disease incidence in combustible-tobacco users, those who transitioned to ENDS use, and those who quit tobacco with never tobacco users.

Methods: This prospective cohort study analyzes five waves of Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study data, Wave 1 (2013-2014) through Wave 5 (2018-2019).

Biomarkers of Inflammation and Oxidative Stress among Adult Former Smoker, Current E-Cigarette Users-Results from Wave 1 PATH Study.

Background: Former smokers who currently use e-cigarettes have lower concentrations of biomarkers of tobacco toxicant exposure than current smokers. It is unclear whether tobacco toxicant exposure reductions may lead to health risk reductions.

Methods: We compared inflammatory biomarkers (high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, IL6, fibrinogen, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1) and an oxidative stress marker (F2-isoprostane) among 3,712 adult participants in Wave 1 (2013-2014) of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study by tobacco user groups: dual users of cigarettes and e-cigarettes; former smokers who currently use e-cigarettes-only; current cigarette-only smokers; former smokers who do not currently use any tobacco; and never tobacco users.

Biomarkers of Potential Harm among Adult Cigarette and Smokeless Tobacco Users in the PATH Study Wave 1 (2013-2014): A Cross-sectional Analysis.

Background: While smokeless tobacco (ST) causes oral cancer and is associated with cardiovascular diseases, less is known about how its effects differ from other tobacco use. Biomarkers of potential harm (BOPH) can measure short-term health effects such as inflammation and oxidative stress.

Methods: We compared BOPH concentrations [IL6, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), and F2-isoprostane] across 3,460 adults in wave 1 of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health study (2013-2014) by tobacco use groups: primary ST users (current exclusive ST use among never smokers), secondary ST users (current exclusive ST use among former smokers), exclusive cigarette smokers, dual users of ST and cigarettes, former smokers, and never tobacco users.

Inhibition of Bitter Taste from Oral Tenofovir Alafenamide.

Children have difficulty swallowing capsules. Yet, when presented with liquid formulations, children often reject oral medications due to their intense bitterness. Presently, effective strategies to identify methods, reagents, and tools to block bitterness remain elusive.

Exposure to Nicotine and Toxicants Among Dual Users of Tobacco Cigarettes and E-Cigarettes: Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study, 2013-2014.

Introduction: Concurrent use of tobacco cigarettes and e-cigarettes ("dual use") is common among tobacco users. Little is known about differences in demographics and toxicant exposure among subsets of dual users.

Aims And Methods: We analyzed data from adult dual users (current every/some day users of tobacco cigarettes and e-cigarettes, n = 792) included in the PATH Study Wave 1 (2013-2014) and provided urine samples.

Dose-Response Association of Low-Intensity and Nondaily Smoking With Mortality in the United States.

Importance: An increasing proportion of US smokers smoke at low intensity and not every day. Some nondaily smokers have always had this pattern, whereas others previously smoked daily. The effect of reducing the level of smoking from daily to nondaily smoking and the dose response at low smoking levels are poorly understood.

Biomarkers of Exposure among Adult Smokeless Tobacco Users in the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study (Wave 1, 2013-2014).

Background: Monitoring population-level toxicant exposures from smokeless tobacco (SLT) use is important for assessing population health risks due to product use. In this study, we assessed tobacco biomarkers of exposure (BOE) among SLT users from the Wave 1 (2013-2014) of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study.

Methods: Urinary biospecimens were collected from adults ages 18 and older.

Metal Ions Activate the Human Taste Receptor TAS2R7.

Divalent and trivalent salts exhibit a complex taste profile. They are perceived as being astringent/drying, sour, bitter, and metallic. We hypothesized that human bitter-taste receptors may mediate some taste attributes of these salts.

Comparison of Nicotine and Toxicant Exposure in Users of Electronic Cigarettes and Combustible Cigarettes.

Importance: Use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) is increasing. Measures of exposure to known tobacco-related toxicants among e-cigarette users will inform potential health risks to individual product users.

Objectives: To estimate concentrations of tobacco-related toxicants among e-cigarette users and compare these biomarker concentrations with those observed in combustible cigarette users, dual users, and never tobacco users.

Urinary Biomarkers of Carcinogenic Exposure among Cigarette, Waterpipe, and Smokeless Tobacco Users and Never Users of Tobacco in the Golestan Cohort Study.

Background: How carcinogen exposure varies across users of different, particularly noncigarette, tobacco products remains poorly understood.

Methods: We randomly selected 165 participants of the Golestan Cohort Study from northeastern Iran: 60 never users of any tobacco, 35 exclusive cigarette, 40 exclusive (78% daily) waterpipe, and 30 exclusive smokeless tobacco (nass) users. We measured concentrations of 39 biomarkers of exposure in 4 chemical classes in baseline urine samples: tobacco alkaloids, tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNA), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and volatile organic compounds (VOC).

Association of Cigarette, Cigar, and Pipe Use With Mortality Risk in the US Population.

Importance: Tobacco products have changed in recent years. Contemporary mortality risk estimates of combustible tobacco product use are needed.

Objective: To investigate the mortality risks associated with current and former use of cigars, pipes, and cigarettes.

Sex Steroid Hormone Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms, Pesticide Use, and the Risk of Prostate Cancer: A Nested Case-Control Study within the Agricultural Health Study.

Experimental and epidemiologic investigations suggest that certain pesticides may alter sex steroid hormone synthesis, metabolism or regulation, and the risk of hormone-related cancers. Here, we evaluated whether single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) involved in hormone homeostasis alter the effect of pesticide exposure on prostate cancer risk. We evaluated pesticide-SNP interactions between 39 pesticides and SNPs with respect to prostate cancer among 776 cases and 1,444 controls nested in the Agricultural Health Study cohort.

Coumaphos exposure and incident cancer among male participants in the Agricultural Health Study (AHS).

Background: Coumaphos is an organophosphate livestock insecticide. Previous research in the Agricultural Health Study (AHS) cohort observed a positive association between coumaphos and prostate cancer in men with a family history of prostate cancer.

Objectives: This study was performed to determine the association between coumaphos and other major cancer sites and to explore the consistency of the association with prostate cancer early (1993-1999) and later (2000-2005) in AHS follow-up.

Heterocyclic aromatic amine pesticide use and human cancer risk: results from the U.S. Agricultural Health Study.

Imazethapyr, a heterocyclic aromatic amine, is a widely used crop herbicide first registered for use in the United States in 1989. We evaluated cancer incidence among imazethapyr-exposed pesticide applicators enrolled in the Agricultural Health Study (AHS). The AHS is a prospective cohort of 57,311 licensed pesticide applicators in the U.

Investigation of job-related pesticide exposure in the third national health and nutrition examination survey.

The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey gathered health and job data from a sample of the US population. Researchers collected urine samples from a subset of subjects and analyzed it for 12 pesticide residues or metabolites (ie, analytes). They investigated the relationship between the industries and jobs reported and the analytes detected in the urine samples.