Chennai-based researchers find novel treatment option for nicotine addiction

Researchers at the Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research (SRIHER), here, found a novel approach to tackle nicotine addiction and its associated health risks by recirculating bioavailable nicotine metabolite using ascorbic acid.

Converting cotinine (a metabolite of nicotine) back into nicotine using a suitable reducing agent, such as ascorbic acid, could be a practical approach, the team of researchers from the Faculty of Pharmacy, SRIHER, found.

This conversion would allow cotinine to be neutralised for its central nervous system effects before its eventual elimination from the body, a release here said on Monday.

The study led by Dr Murugesan Arumugam, Dr Raman Lakshmi Sundaram, Dr Jerad A Suresh, Dr Sathesh Kumar Kesavan, Vishal Jayajothi and Manish Arul, could bring about major changes in nicotine cessation strategies, the release said.

The study conclusively proved that the oxidative metabolite of nicotine, such as cotinine, was converted back to nicotine in smoker plasma in the presence of a specified concentration of ascorbic acid after 10 minutes of incubation. ''This conversion did not occur in water or in the absence of ascorbic acid, indicating the involvement of enzymes. This approach has not been previously studied and may have the potential to help people addicted to nicotine,'' the study published in the Indexed Journal 'Advances in Redox Research,' said.

It, however, favoured further studies with larger sample populations and subsequent behavioral studies to confirm the findings.

The team has filed for an Indian patent and established RXTECH Pharma Private Limited as an incubator for clinical applications.

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