{
  "abstract": "Dyspnea occurs during high-intensity running in healthy trained individuals and may limit endurance performance. Given that L-menthol inhalation can alleviate dyspnea in other contexts, we investigated whether L-menthol inhalation reduces dyspnea and improves endurance performance during high-intensity running in healthy trained individuals. Nine females (mean ± standard deviation; V˙ O2peak = 55.8 ± 6.8 mL/kg/min) and nine males ( V˙ O2peak = 60.3 ± 4.6 mL/kg/min) endurance runners with normal spirometry completed a randomized crossover counterbalanced trial with L-menthol inhalation or a strawberry scent (placebo). Performance was measured with a treadmill time-to-exhaustion (TTE) test at 85% of the peak velocity achieved during a preliminary cardiopulmonary exercise test. Cardiorespiratory, metabolic, and perceptual responses were measured throughout. Compared with the placebo, L-menthol inhalation reduced dyspnea across the TTE test (∼1 AU; p = 0.004) and extended the TTE test duration (406 ± 94 vs. 445 ± 106 s; p = 0.009). Pulmonary ventilation (p = 0.377), tidal volume (p = 0.298), O₂ consumption (p = 0.277), CO₂ production (p = 0.786), pulse O₂ saturation (p = 0.766), and heart rate (p = 0.974) did not differ between conditions. Breathing frequency was lower with L-menthol inhalation than with placebo (p = 0.045). L-menthol inhalation attenuated dyspnea and enhanced high-intensity running endurance performance without substantial changes in cardiorespiratory and metabolic responses to exercise. These results suggest that dyspnea constitutes an important constraint on endurance performance during high-intensity running in healthy trained individuals, and identify acute L-menthol inhalation as an effective ergogenic strategy for this exercise modality and population. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Registered at the Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials (U1111-1289-3438).",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Laboratory of Exercise Physiology at the Olympic Center of Training and Research, Department of Physiology, Paulista School of Medicine, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.",
    "São Paulo Association for Medicine Development, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.",
    "Post-Graduate Program in Translational Medicine, Department of Medicine, Paulista School of Medicine, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.",
    "Post-graduate Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Alfenas, Alfenas, Minas Gerais, Brazil.",
    "Faculty of Medicine, Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, Poços de Caldas, Minas Gerais, Brazil.",
    "Department of Life Quality Studies, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.",
    "National Institute of Science and Technology-INCT Physical (In)activity and Health, CNPq, Brasília, Brazil."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 9,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Thiago Ribeiro Lopes",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8623-7484"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Adriano de Almeida Pereira",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-9716-7672"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Felipe Silva Gomes",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2968-1842"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Daniel Gonçalves Duarte",
      "orcid": "0009-0009-9087-6076"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Rita Dulcivana Soares",
      "orcid": "0009-0001-2964-9052"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Caroline Beato Soares",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3237-0765"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Giovana Beato Soares"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Samuele Maria Marcora",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1570-7936"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        2,
        6
      ],
      "name": "Bruno Moreira Silva",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0473-3706"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7p3vvcf7ysd1n.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1002/ejsc.70262",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13691925",
  "id": "7p3vvcf7ysd1n",
  "issns": [
    "1746-1391",
    "1536-7290"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42922437",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2707|Cardiovascular and exercise physiology"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223276288",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13691925?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13691925",
  "pmid": "42922437",
  "published": "2026-10-30",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7p3vvcf7ysd1n.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:32Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42922437",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42922437"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2707|Cardiovascular and exercise physiology",
      "subfield": "general"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Dyspnea Reduction With L-Menthol Inhalation Improves High-Intensity Endurance Running Performance in Healthy Trained Adults.",
  "title_text": "Dyspnea Reduction With L-Menthol Inhalation Improves High-Intensity Endurance Running Performance in Healthy Trained Adults.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:20:32Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7p3vvcf7ysd1n",
  "venue": "European journal of sport science",
  "versions": []
}