A study carried out at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital reveals that nicotine would have preventive virtues against Covid-19. A clinical study will be carried out, where nicotine patches will be administered to patients and caregivers to measure the effects.
- There are very few smokers among the serious cases of Covid-19
- Nicotine could prevent the spread of the virus in cells
- A clinical study will be conducted on the impact of smoking on Covid-19
Smoking kills but could protect against coronavirus. A study conducted by neurobiologist and member of the Academy of Sciences Jean-Pierre Changeux, at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris, reveals that nicotine would have preventive virtues against Covid-19, announces France Inter. It all started with an observation among people infected with the virus: there are very few smokers. Added to this are several studies — insufficient because they include “bias” making them difficult to use – which seem to show that there is a fairly low proportion of smokers among patients. In addition, in prisons and psychiatric hospitals, where many are cigarette smokers, very few people are affected by Covid-19.
Oppose the spread of the virus
These observations and the first studies led the Pitié Salpêtrière hospital to carry out a more in-depth study. Published byAcademy of Sciences, it involved 480 patients positive for Covid-19: 350 hospitalized and 130 lighter patients admitted on an outpatient basis. Internal medicine professor Zahir Amoura, who conducted the study, found that there are very few smokers among these patients. “We had a smoking rate of around 5%, which is lowhe describes to France Inter. There are roughly 80% fewer smokers in Covid populations than in the general, same-sex, same-age population.”
The nicotine hypothesis that could protect against Covid-19 was born from neurobiologist Jean-Pierre Changeux, a specialist in nicotinic receptors, who suggests that nicotine could prevent the virus from entering cells. “The idea was that nicotine would interfere with the attachment of the coronavirus to the nicotine receptor, and could therefore oppose the spread of the virus”, he deciphers. Field observations also suggest that hospitalized smoking patients could see their case worsen with this sudden withdrawal.
No question of increasing the consumption of cigarettes
To validate this hypothesis, a clinical study will be conducted. The latter caught the eye of the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, and the Director General of Health, Jérôme Salomon. As soon as possible, nicotine patches will be administered to three different audiences, and at different dosages. First to caregivers, in prevention, to see if this protects them. Then, to hospitalized patients, to examine whether the symptoms decrease. Finally, to serious patients in intensive care, to see if their inflammatory state is attenuated. The other hypothesis is that nicotine could dampen the excessive immune response that generates the most severe cases. The clinical study should provide answers.
However, say the scientists, there is no question of suddenly rushing to cigarettes. There is no question that the hypothesis of preventive virtues of nicotine against the coronavirus leads to an increase in tobacco consumption. “It’s all about the risk/benefit balance”, insist the researchers, who suggest that nicotine may not be the only substance to play an active role on nicotinic receptors and therefore to prevent the spread of the virus on a similar biological principle. Ivermectin, a well-known anti-parasitic, could have these same properties, but this remains to be proven.
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