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I remember at the beginning of the pandemic, it seemed as though few current smokers were getting seriously ill, although former smokers were at high risk. Did

I remember at the beginning of the pandemic, it seemed as though few current smokers were getting seriously ill, although former smokers were at high risk. Did anything come of that?

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
SturgeonsLaw 6y ago
That has been observed, and nicotine proposed as a potential therapeutic aid. The mechanism could be because the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein binds to the same nicotinic acetylcholine receptors that nicotine binds to. > A total of 5960 patients were included in the studies identified. The current smoking prevalence ranged from 1.4% (95% CI 0.0–3.4%) to 12.6% (95% CI 10.6–14.6%). An unusually low prevalence of current smoking was observed from the pooled analysis (6.5%, 95% CI 4.9–8.2%) as compared to population smoking prevalence in China. The secondary analysis, classifying former smokers as current smokers, found a pooled estimate of 7.3% (95% CI 5.7–8.9%). In conclusion, an unexpectedly low prevalence of current smoking was observed among patients with COVID-19 in China, which was approximately 1/4th the population smoking prevalence. Although the generalized advice to quit smoking as a measure to reduce health risk remains valid, the findings, together with the well-established immunomodulatory effects of nicotine, suggest that pharmaceutical nicotine should be considered as a potential treatment option in COVID-19. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7210099/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7210099/ > Based on the early observations of the lower than expected smoking prevalence in hospitalised COVID-19 patients, Changeux and colleagues suggested a role for nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in the pathophysiology of COVID-19 via a direct interaction between these receptors and the viral spike (S) glycoprotein.11 This suggestion was based in the fact that the S protein from SARS-CoV-2 contains a sequence motif similar to known nAChR antagonists11 (Figure S1), such as α-bungarotoxin from Bungarus multicinctus and glycoprotein from Rabies lyssavirus (formerly Rabies virus). Changeux et al. also proposed that COVID-19 might be controlled or mitigated by the use of nicotine, if the latter can sterically or allosterically compete with the virus for binding to these receptors.9,11 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7386492/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7386492/

I remember at the beginning of the pandemic, it seemed as though few current smokers were getting seriously ill, although former smokers were at high risk. Did anything come of that?

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

SturgeonsLaw 6y ago

That has been observed, and nicotine proposed as a potential therapeutic aid. The mechanism could be because the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein binds to the same nicotinic acetylcholine receptors that nicotine binds to. > A total of 5960 patients were included in the studies identified. The current smoking prevalence ranged from 1.4% (95% CI 0.0–3.4%) to 12.6% (95% CI 10.6–14.6%). An unusually low prevalence of current smoking was observed from the pooled analysis (6.5%, 95% CI 4.9–8.2%) as compared to population smoking prevalence in China. The secondary analysis, classifying former smokers as current smokers, found a pooled estimate of 7.3% (95% CI 5.7–8.9%). In conclusion, an unexpectedly low prevalence of current smoking was observed among patients with COVID-19 in China, which was approximately 1/4th the population smoking prevalence. Although the generalized advice to quit smoking as a measure to reduce health risk remains valid, the findings, together with the well-established immunomodulatory effects of nicotine, suggest that pharmaceutical nicotine should be considered as a potential treatment option in COVID-19. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7210099/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7210099/ > Based on the early observations of the lower than expected smoking prevalence in hospitalised COVID-19 patients, Changeux and colleagues suggested a role for nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in the pathophysiology of COVID-19 via a direct interaction between these receptors and the viral spike (S) glycoprotein.11 This suggestion was based in the fact that the S protein from SARS-CoV-2 contains a sequence motif similar to known nAChR antagonists11 (Figure S1), such as α-bungarotoxin from Bungarus multicinctus and glycoprotein from Rabies lyssavirus (formerly Rabies virus). Changeux et al. also proposed that COVID-19 might be controlled or mitigated by the use of nicotine, if the latter can sterically or allosterically compete with the virus for binding to these receptors.9,11 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7386492/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7386492/