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Experimental vaccine blocks nicotine in rats

NEW YORK, Dec 17 (Reuters Health) - An experimental vaccine appears to blunt the effect of nicotine in rats exposed to the drug, and may one day be useful in helping people to kick the smoking habit.

The vaccine may help people quit smoking because "they will not feel the kick, hopefully," according to Dr. Ali Fattom of Nabi Pharmaceuticals, the biopharmaceutical company in Rockville, Maryland, that developed the vaccine.

The vaccine, which consists of nicotine linked to another protein designed to stimulate an immune reaction, can prevent nicotine from getting to the brain of rats.

Antibodies to the vaccine generated in rabbits and then injected into rats successfully blunted nicotine's effects on the rats' blood pressure and activity, according to Fattom and colleagues. Their report is published in the December 17th issue of Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior.

It is still not clear if the vaccine is safe or effective in humans. If the vaccine does work, it could block the effects of nicotine for at least a year, which would be preferred for human use.

"Even if you slip and take that cigarette 5 months from now, you will not be able to get the kick out of it and you will not be able to get addicted," said Fattom.

Fattom's group is in the process of producing vaccines for human use, and hopes to start studies in people by the end of 2000.

The study was funded in part by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The Institute's Director, Dr. Alan I. Leshner, noted in a statement that the agency is also funding research on vaccines against cocaine, methamphetamine, and PCP.

Sources

Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior 1999;65:191-198.

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