Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 28, 2026

Using Nicotine in a Silica-Exposed Mouse Model to Promote Lung Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition
Published on: March 3, 2023
Nicotine lozenges and behavioural interventions may help smokeless tobacco users to quit
1Dental Public Health Unit, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK and Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Data Sources:
Cochrane Central Register of Controlled trials (CENTRAL); Medline; Embase; PsycINFO. Additional sources were also searched for early versions of the review: Web of Science, Dissertation Abstracts Online, Scopus, Healthstar, ERIC, National Technical Information Service database and Current Contents.
Study Selection:
Randomised controlled trials and pseudo-randomised controlled trials allocating smokeless tobacco (ST) users to an intervention or control, or to different interventions. Interventions could be pharmacological (ie nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), bupropion, varenicline) or behavioural, and could be directed at individual ST users or at groups of users.
Data Extraction And Synthesis:
Two authors independently extracted data about participants, interventions, outcomes and methodological quality. Any discrepancies in extracted data were resolved by consensus. Synthesis followed standard Cochrane methodology.
Results:
Thirty-four trials were included, 32 from the USA, one from Sweden and one from Sweden and Norway. Sixteen of the trials assessed pharmacological interventions and 19 assessed behavioural interventions (two studies did both). Varenicline increased ST abstinence rates (risk ratio 1.34, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.08-1.68). Bupropion did not show a benefit of treatment. Neither nicotine patch nor nicotine gum increased abstinence. Nicotine lozenges did increase tobacco abstinence (RR 1.36, 95% CI 1.17-1.59). Behvaioural interventions resulted in a RR of 1.39 (95% CI 1.25-1.55) for those already motivated to quit and 1.37 (95% CI 1.23-1.53) for anyone.
Conclusions:
Varenicline, nicotine lozenges and behavioural interventions may help ST users to quit. Confidence in results for nicotine lozenges is limited. Confidence in the size of effect from behavioural interventions is limited because the components of behavioural interventions that contribute to their impact are not clear.
More Related Videos
08:47Spectral Confocal Imaging of Fluorescently tagged Nicotinic Receptors in Knock-in Mice with Chronic Nicotine Administration
Published on: February 10, 2012
06:39Electroencephalographic, Heart Rate, and Galvanic Skin Response Assessment for an Advertising Perception Study: Application to Antismoking Public Service Announcements
Published on: August 28, 2017
Related Concept Videos
Drugs Acting on Autonomic Ganglia: Stimulants
Ganglionic stimulants activate NM nicotinic receptors in autonomic ganglia, falling into two categories: nicotine mimetics [e.g., lobeline, dimethylpiperazine, tetramethylammonium] and muscarinic receptor agonists [e.g., muscarine, methacholine]. The first category's action is rapid and blocked by nicotinic receptor antagonists, while the second category's action is delayed and blocked by atropine-like agents. Nicotine, an alkaloid, affects the heart rate by stimulating...
CNS Depressants: Alcohol and Nicotine
Drug Dependence
Stimulants
Cocaine can be administered via snorting, injection, or smoking. It primarily functions by blocking the reuptake of dopamine, resulting in a euphoric high characterized by an intense sensation of happiness and...
Operant Conditioning Intervention
In operant conditioning, behaviors that are...
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease-V: Management
Smoking Cessation