Nicotine Gum as a Therapeutic Approach for Low Blood Pressure in Parkinson's Disease: A Randomized Pilot Study

One cause for low blood pressure (BP) in Parkinson's disease (PD) is denervation of the sympathetic nervous system and reduced levels of norepinephrine. Nicotine increases heart rate and BP acutely by causing sympathetic stimulation. The absorption rate of nicotine gum is relatively quick and absorbed at a constant rate. Our objective was to evaluate how nicotine gum affects acute low BP in PD.

Ten subjects (age 69.3 ± 8.8) completed this double blind, placebo controlled, cross-over design trial using nicotine gum (4 mg) and placebo gum on two separate days. The gum was administered for 30 min. BP was recorded every 10 min for 90 min.

On the nicotine gum treatment day, the baseline systolic BP was 94.8 (standard deviation [SD] = 4.4), and it increased in a parabolic pattern to be 115.8 (SD = 11.2) in 20 min, 124.2 (SD = 9.3) in 40 min, and 133.2 (SD = 13.1) in 60 min reaching the highest value, and then decreased to be 121.6 (SD = 10.4) in 90 min. On the placebo day, the baseline systolic BP 95.2 (SD = 3.0) didn't show an outstanding change with the mean systolic BP values from 93.0 to 95.7 (SD from 2.1 to 3.7) at all time points.

Our data suggests that 4 mg of nicotine gum can increase systolic BP within 10 min of administration. It is strongly warranted that further research should pursue the use of nicotine gum as an intervention to treat acute episodes of low BP in individuals with PD.

More than 50% of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients have low blood pressure (BP) that fluctuates throughout the day and decreases quality of life. This study found an increase in systolic blood pressure within 10 min of administering nicotine gum to Parkinson's subjects with low BP. Their BP remained elevated for 90 min. Nicotine gum gets absorbed rapidly and may act as a therapeutic novel approach to individuals whose daily lives are interrupted with low BP.