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Effect of menthol on human temperature sensitivity

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Abstract

Application of 1% methol, which, along with cold, activates specific thermosensitive ionic channels, changes the number of functioning cold receptors on the skin of the forearm similarly to the cold exposure test; however, it does not affect the number of heat receptors and does not significantly change the threshold of cold sensation. Group variants of responses to menthol that indicate individual differences in the sensitivity of skin receptors to the effects of methol and cold have been found. The results obtained give grounds to suggest that, from the variant of response to menthol (a decrease, increase, or absence of changes in the number of functioning cold receptors 5 min after menthol application), it is possible to predict specific features of response to cold.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Physiology, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Novosibirsk, 630117, Russia

    T. V. Kozyreva & E. Ya. Tkachenko

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  1. T. V. Kozyreva
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  2. E. Ya. Tkachenko
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Original Russian Text © T.V. Kozyreva, E.Ya. Tkachenko, 2008, published in Fiziologiya Cheloveka, 2008, Vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 99–103.

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Kozyreva, T.V., Tkachenko, E.Y. Effect of menthol on human temperature sensitivity. Hum Physiol 34, 221–225 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0362119708020138

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0362119708020138

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