Nasal spray nicotine replacement suppresses cigarette smoking desire and behavior

The effects of short-term nasal spray nicotine replacement in suppressing desire to smoke and ad libitum cigarette smoking behavior were evaluated in male and female smokers. In study I, 10 male and 10 female smokers received intermittent doses of 0, 7.5, 15, and 30 micrograms/kg nicotine by way of measured-dose nasal spray, with each dose on a separate day. Self-reported desire to smoke was significantly suppressed by each nicotine dose compared with placebo, but there were no significant differences among nicotine doses or between men and women. In study II, eight male and eight female smokers received 0, 15, and 30 micrograms/kg nicotine intermittently and were allowed to smoke their preferred brands of cigarettes ad libitum. Similar to study I, nicotine replacement significantly suppressed number of cigarettes smoked, number of puffs, and carbon monoxide boost and increased latency to smoking, but there were almost no significant differences between the two nicotine doses. Magnitude of smoking suppression attributable to 15 micrograms/kg tended to be greater in men than in women. However, plasma nicotine concentrations were significantly higher after 15 and 30 micrograms/kg versus placebo, suggesting only partial compensation in smoking behavior with short-term nasal nicotine replacement. These findings support the idea that short-term nicotine replacement decreases smoking desire and behavior, but the findings indicate that smoking behavior is partly influenced by factors other than nicotine regulation.