An Overview of Nicotine Vaccines

Nicotine constitutes the main addictive component of tobacco products. Unfortunately, thiscompound accounts for millions of deaths and diseases worldwide. Nicotine addiction is acomplex phenomenon with multiple biological, psychological, and social factors. One of thechallenges in treating nicotine addiction relates to its high rate of relapse, often triggered byexposure to nicotine or smoking cues. Nicotine vaccines, a novel immunological approach,serve to prevent or reduce nicotine addiction. They induce the production of antibodies that bindto nicotine and block its entry into the brain. Nicotine vaccines have shown promising results inpreclinical studies but have failed to demonstrate sufficient efficacy and safety in human trials.Several factors may contribute to the limited success of nicotine vaccines: Different antibodyresponses, genetic and environmental factors, the complexity of nicotine pharmacokineticsand pharmacodynamics, and the heterogeneity of smoking behavior and motivation. Thisstudy reviews the rationale, mechanism, development, preclinical studies, and clinical trialsof nicotine vaccines, as well as the challenges and future directions of this research field. Webelieve future research should focus on improving the design and delivery of nicotine vaccines,identifying biomarkers and predictors of antibody responses and treatment outcomes, exploringthe combination of nicotine vaccines with other pharmacological and behavioral interventions,and evaluating nicotine vaccines’ long-term effects and cost-effectiveness.

Keywords:

Nicotine addictions , Vaccines , Immunotherapy , Antibodies , Smoking cessation