The Contribution of cocoa additive to cigarette smoking addiction

RIVM report 650270002 Page 5 of 207
Summary
This report discusses the cocoa additive in relation to cigarette smoking addiction. Cocoa is
added to cigarettes for flavour enhancement. Cocoa contains also various psychoactive
compounds that can affect the addiction to cigarette smoking. This literature survey describes
the exposure, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, toxicology, interactions and dependency of
ten best-known psychoactive compounds in cocoa. The ten psychoactive cocoa compounds
were theobromine, caffeine, serotonin, histamine, tryptophan, tryptamine, tyramine,
phenylethylamine, octopamine and anandamide. The body is exposed to these compounds via
food and drinks or is synthesized by the body itself. This report showed that the exposure to
the psychoactive compounds originated from cocoa via cigarette smoking is negligible
compared with intake via food and drinks or compared with the endogenous production of
those compounds. A systemic effect of the psychoactive compounds via cigarette smoking
seems unlikely, also because some compounds (the biogenic amines) are degraded rapidly.
The fact that the exposure to these compounds via inhalation implies that they could have
local effect on the respiratory system. The local effects might influence the level of nicotine
absorption. For example, the level of nicotine absorption may increase through
bronchodilatation by theobromine and caffeine or may decrease through bronchoconstriction
by histamine. However, this report indicates that the level of the psychoactive compounds of
cocoa in cigarettes is probably too low to exert any local bronchoactive effects.
Furthermore, the quantities of tyramine, tryptamine and phenylethylamine in cigarettes
originating from cocoa is negligible compared with the quantities originating from tobacco
itself.
The combustion products of the compounds are also discussed. The combustion products of
the amine psychoactive compounds, such as serotonin, tryptophan, tryptamine, tyramine and
phenylethylamine, inhibit the enzyme mono amine oxidase (MAO). These MAO-inhibitors
have anti-depressive properties and may thus increase the addiction to cigarette smoking.
This report concludes that the individual level of the psychoactive compounds in cigarettes
originating from cocoa does not increase the addiction to cigarette smoking by itself. The
combustion products of the compounds may increase the addiction to cigarette smoking via
MAO-inhibition. Furthermore, the flavour of cocoa may act as a conditioned stimulus and the
organoleptic properties of cocoa may be associated with dependency. There is no information
available in the literature about the effects on health and addiction of the inhalation of the
combination of the ten investigated compounds.