Cytisine Helps Quit Smoking Better Than Nicotine-Replacement Therapy

According to a recent study, cytisine better assists smokers in quitting tobacco compared to nicotine-replacement therapy (NRT).

“Placebo-controlled trials indicate that cytisine, a partial agonist that binds the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor and is used for smoking cessation, almost doubles the chances of quitting at 6 months,” said the authors of the study.
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“We investigated whether cytisine was at least as effective as nicotine-replacement therapy in helping smokers to quit,” they said.

For the study, researchers randomized 1310 adult, daily smokers into 2 groups. They followed participants in 1 group for 25 days while taking cytisine tablets and participants using NRT (the patch, plus gum, or lozenge) for an 8-week duration.

Both of the groups had 3 brief telephone calls for behavioral support over 8 weeks.

Researchers discovered that more participants reported continuous abstinence at 1 month while using cytosine compared to NRT (40% vs 31%).

While cytosine use was linked to more adverse events including vomiting, nausea, and sleep disorders, only 5% of patients stopped the treatment because of side effects.

The complete study is published in the December issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

-Michelle Canales

Reference:

Walker N, Howe C, Glover M, et al. Cytisine versus nicotine for smoking cessation. N Engl J Med. 2014 December [epub ahead of print] doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1407764.