Soon, an Anti-Nicotine Vaccine

5.4 million people die annually because of diseases caused by tobacco smoking, which means about one person every 8 seconds. On top of that, the number of these deaths is increasing in low-income countries.

Tobacco smoke contains tar, a mix of about 4,000 chemicals. 43 of these molecules are known to cause cancer, like cyanate, benzene, methanol, acetylene (fuel employed in solder lamps). Nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide are two toxic gases, while nicotine is a drug known to cause strong dependence. 25% of the American youngsters that initially only wanted to know how it feels to smoke became addicted later on. This is the same rate of dependence like in the case of those testing cocaine or heroin. 70% of smokers come to regret later they took it up.

Tobacco smoking has turned into the main cause of diseases worldwide. If the current tendency is maintained, by 2020, smoking will kill more persons than AIDS, tuberculosis, maternal mortality, car accidents, suicides and murder do. Still, 30% of adults worldwide smoke. In the whole world, 5 thousand billion cigarettes are sold annually.

Quitting tobacco is extremely difficult due to the addictive effect of the nicotine. The solution could come with a shot. Swedish researchers have begun a trial on a vaccine aimed to combat the effect of nicotine on the brain cells. Independent Pharmaceutica, a private company based at Stockholm's Karolinska Institute, is the latest to join the research groups aiming to develop an anti-nicotine vaccine.

This vaccine would eliminate craving by using antibodies that would attack the nicotine molecules, impairing their ability to bind to the brain cells. Without the interaction nicotine-neurons, there is no addiction to speak of. In the second phase of the trial on 400 people in three Nordic countries, the team will assess the effect of the vaccine on individuals that have quit smoking and are eager to avoid relapse. However, the main aim of the vaccine remains that of enabling active smokers to quit.

The Swiss Cytos Biotechnology learned during a phase II trial in 2005 that 42% of the patients who got high antibody amounts at vaccination had not relapsed 12 months later, compared to 21% in the placebo group.

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