Plasma Nicotine Levels after Inhalation of Aerosolized Nicotine

Abstract

Smokers were given 5 mg of aerosolized nicotine over a 5-min period on 3 separate days to determine if this mode of nicotine delivery could produce nicotine levels similar to those reported from cigarette smoking. Our subjects' mean nicotine level increased from a pretrial level of 12 +/- 2 ng/ml to a peak of 32 +/- 7 ng/ml at 2.5 min after completion of the inhalation. Cough was the most prominent side effect and seemed to be related to irritant effects of the aerosol. Seven of the 16 subjects dropped out of the study because of unpleasant side effects. Side effects did not seem to correlate with nicotine blood levels. We conclude that aerosolized nicotine can produce plasma nicotine levels analogous to cigarette smoking. Cough was a limiting side effect and was presumably due to an irritant effect of the aerosol on the upper airway.

Nicotine Delivery to Rats via Lung Alveolar Region-Targeted Aerosol Technology Produces Blood Pharmacokinetics Resembling Human Smoking

“…There are reports of nicotine administration to humans through aerosol inhalation. Their clinical significance has yet to be demonstrated (Burch, Erbland, Gann, & Hiller, 1989;Rose, Turner, Murugesan, Behm, & Laugesen, 2010;Simis et al, 2008). Chronic nicotine administration to rats by aerosol inhalation was suggested in an abstract (Littleton & Umney, 1977), but this study has not resulted in further publication.…”

Aerosols for systemic treatment

“…To ameliorate the side effects associated with cessation of smoking, a nicotine aerosol is sometimes used [5,39]. The aerosol administration of nicotine is superior to oral or transcutaneous administration, because it imitates administration via cigarette smoke.…”

Evidence for Alpha7Nicotinic Receptor Activation During the Cough Suppressing Effects Induced by Nicotine and Identification of ATA-101 as a Potential Novel Therapy for the Treatment of Chronic Cough

“…Molecular and electrophysiological analyses have documented nicotinic receptor (nAChR) expression by airway sensory nerves (Kuo et al, 1989;Lee et al, 1989;Kuo et al, 1990;Gu et al, 2008;Tao et al, 2019), and reflexes including cough are observed in human volunteers and in animals challenged with aerosolized nicotine (Burch et al, 1989;Hansson et al, 1994;Lee et al, 1985;Lee et al, 2007;McConnell et al, 2017;Soule et al, 2020).…”