Quit? Easy!
Biologists from the USA have found out how to quit smoking without withdrawal
Molecular biologists and chemists from California have created a kind of "vaccine" against nicotine addiction by developing a substance that destroys nicotine even before it enters the human brain. The results of tests on rats were presented in the journal Science Advances (Kallupi et al., An enzymatic approach reverses nicotine dependence, decreases compulsive-like intake, and prevents relapse).
This is a very promising approach to fighting smoking, as it allows you to give up nicotine addiction without experiencing severe withdrawal. Our substance is located and works in the bloodstream, not in the brain, which makes it relatively safe in terms of other side effects," said Olivier George from the Scripps Institute in La Jolla (in a press release Engineered enzyme eliminates nicotine addiction in preclinical tests – VM).
The help of bacteria
Many smokers are trying to get rid of their habit, but not everyone succeeds. The unpleasant sensations associated with quitting tobacco make most of them start smoking again.
Scientists, as George notes, have been trying for a long time to create drugs that would help smokers not to "break down". Some of them simply block the effect of nicotine on the body, while others connect the immune system to the fight.
The first experiments with such substances showed that they work either very poorly or too well, destroying absolutely all nicotine molecules that enter the body. As a result, a smoker, using such drugs, will get into a situation similar to the "dry withdrawal" of drug addicts, with all its consequences for their health and psyche.
George and his colleagues randomly solved this problem by discovering the NicA2 enzyme, which destroys nicotine, in the cells of the "oil-eating" bacterium Pseudomonas putida. Scientists have modified its structure somewhat, adapting it to work in the human body, and tested how it will interact with the main tobacco "poison".
The first experiments showed that it decomposes almost all nicotine that enters the human or animal body, but leaves trace amounts of this substance that help avoid the development of withdrawal syndrome.
Immunity to tobacco
The results of the experiments forced George and his colleagues to check whether a new version of this protein, NicA2-J1, would help not only protect patients from developing nicotine addiction, but also help them get rid of it.
To do this, they raised several dozen rats and taught them to drink water containing nicotine. To get the next portion of "tobacco", the animal had to press the lever, which in 30% of cases included not a drinking bowl, but electrodes connected to the floor of the cage, as a result of which the rodent received a rather painful electric shock.
Rats who had already formed a nicotine addiction ignored the electric shock and tried to push the lever as often as possible. The introduction of NicA2-J1 into their bloodstream noticeably changed the picture – the animals sharply reduced the frequency of clicks and gradually stopped experiencing cravings for tobacco extract.
Interestingly, blocking the action of nicotine did not lead to the appearance of characteristic signs of "withdrawal" – rats did not become more irritable and aggressive towards their relatives after the introduction of NicA2-J1, as happened with other substances that destroy nicotine.
Scientists attribute this to the fact that this protein works in the bloodstream, and not in the brain, like other molecules of this type, which could limit the effect of its metabolites on nerve tissue. In the near future, George and his team plan to start clinical experiments with the participation of volunteers.
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