Nicotine on its own is not addictive!

[9 March 2009 - 11h42]
[mis à jour le 9 March 2009 à 14h41]

Researchers at the CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research) and the College of France have highlighted the role of certain monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) that are also found in tobacco products. It is their association with nicotine that, according to the researchers, appears to be the cause of dependency.

This is how it works: these MAOIs act by unleashing the addictive properties of nicotine, explains Jean-Pol Tassin of the College of France, who carried out this research. In fact they cancel out the natural protection of neurons with respect to nicotine.

In other words, as Tassin and his team have shown, nicotine alone is not enough to trigger a state of dependency among smokers. Other tobacco components -the infamous MAOIs in fact - prove to be essential in unleashing its addictive capacity.

For the authors, this discovery also explains why the nicotine substitutes used to help in quitting smoking are ineffective in the long-term. Indeed, according to the researcher who cites several studies on the subject, 80% of nicotine patch users start smoking again within one year of quitting. Nicotine alone is not sufficient as a substitute product.

It should be remembered that worldwide, smoking kills nearly 5 million people each year. And by 2030, this figure is expected to rise to as many as 8 million… which is an increase of 63%.

Source : CNRS-Collège de France-INSERM, January 2009 - Health Technology Assessment, 2008 :vol.12 (2)

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