Cytisine News and Research

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New research highlights potential of cytisine for global smoking cessation efforts

A new study published in Addiction has found that cytisine, a low-cost, generic stop-smoking aid that has been used in eastern Europe since the 1960s, increases the chances of successful smoking cessation by more than two-fold compared with placebo and may be more effective than nicotine replacement therapy. It has a benign safety profile, with no evidence of serious safety concerns.

2 Jan 2024

Nicotine e-cigarettes, varenicline, and cytisine most effective for long-term smoking cessation, analysis finds

A comprehensive new analysis has found that nicotine e-cigarettes, varenicline and cytisine are the most effective options currently available for helping smokers quit long-term (going at least six months without smoking).

28 Sep 2023

Cytisinicline could offer adult cigarette smokers a potential new treatment option

The first large-scale U.S. clinical trial of cytisinicline, led by a Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigator, found the smoking cessation medication to be effective and well tolerated in adults who wished to break their nicotine dependence.

11 Jul 2023

Varenicline and cytisine not more efficacious than nicotine to treat risky drinking and smoking, study says

A clinical trial to test whether three proven smoking cessation treatments could also reduce alcohol intake found no differences between the medications, but the rates of behavior change for alcohol consumption and smoking were high in all treatment groups. Results suggest these medications could play an important role to reduce alcohol use and smoking at the same time. Unexpectedly, nicotine replacement therapy performed as well as the prescription drugs varenicline and cytisine.

8 Aug 2022

Study shows efficacy and safety of cytisine as a smoking cessation therapy

Research published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology shows cytisine may be a safe and effective smoking cessation therapy in lung cancer screening volunteers.

28 Jul 2022

Smoking cessation drug shows potential to treat Parkinson's disease in females

Texas A&M University College of Medicine ressearchers have recently discovered that cytisine -- a smoking cessation drug commonly used in Europe -- reduces the loss of dopamine neurons in females. These findings provide potential evidence for the use of the drug to treat Parkinson's disease or stop its progression in women.

4 Mar 2021

Involvement of nicotine receptors in COVID-19

Researchers from the University of Bristol, Oxford Brookes University and the University of California San Diego neatly demonstrated how the spike protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) exhibits high affinity for nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), with significant implications for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pathology and infectivity. Their findings are published on the bioRxiv* preprint server.

20 Jul 2020

UF Health researcher reveals how betel nut's psychoactive chemical works in the brain

For hundreds of millions of people around the world, chewing betel nut produces a cheap, quick high but also raises the risk of addiction and oral cancer. Now, new findings by a University of Florida Health researcher reveal how the nut's psychoactive chemical works in the brain and suggest that an addiction treatment may already exist.

22 Oct 2015

Major new review shows that every country in the world can afford to help citizens quit smoking

That is the conclusion of a major new review, written by leading world experts and published in the medical journal, Addiction. The review examined a wide range of measures that healthcare systems in different countries can adopt to help smokers to stop.

31 Jul 2015

Bulgaria’s decades old anti-smoking pill could be a cheap and effective answer to smoking cessation

A pill from Bulgaria during the Soviet era shows promise for helping millions of smokers cheaply and safely kick the habit, the first big clinical trial of it shows. It is unclear whether it will ever reach the market in the U.S. or Western Europe though.

29 Sep 2011

Smoking keeps weight off: Study finds out how

The researchers have found that nicotine activates a pathway in the brain that suppresses appetite. The study was published in the journal Science. The authors believe this discovery should lead to better diet drugs.

9 Jun 2011

Plant-derived compound for treatment of nicotine addiction also effective against alcoholism

South Dakota State University researchers have demonstrated for the first time that a plant-derived compound used to treat nicotine addiction also has significant effects against alcohol addiction.

21 Oct 2010

Researchers find medication for diabetes, smoking cessation

The script for two research teams inducted today into the American Chemical Society (ACS) scientific "hall of fame" the ACS Heroes of Chemistry is a tale of two pills. One team invented a medication that helps people with diabetes control their blood sugar levels. The second team invented a medicine that helps people stop smoking, an addiction that experts regard as today's single greatest preventable cause of death worldwide.

23 Aug 2010