Linda Dwoskin (Univerisity of Kentucky, Lexington, KY) discussed drugs currently used for nicotine addiction, including various formulations of... » More

Linda Dwoskin (Univerisity of Kentucky, Lexington, KY) discussed drugs currently used for nicotine addiction, including various formulations of nicotine, bupropion (Zyban@) and varenicline (Chantix@) as well as her research on novel antagonists of nicotinic receptors. According to Dwoskin a6ß2 subtype of nicotinic receptors may represent a better target for novel antagonists for smoking cessation. This is, however, not the only receptor subtype involved in nicotine addiction. Other nicotinic receptor subtypes of possible interest are a4ß2 and a7. Thus, it may be that nonselective or only partially selective nicotinic antagonists will be most useful in the therapy of nicotine addiction. In the brain the major metabolite of nicotine is nornicotine, which is also addictive. It is assumed that nornicotine binds to the same receptors as nicotine. .

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