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| |  Varenicline May Decrease Enjoyment of Smoking, but Not Smoking Behaviour: Presented at SRNT By Liz Meszaros BALTIMORE, Md -- March 1, 2010 -- Varenicline may acutely decrease smokers’ enjoyment of smoking, but not smoking reinforcement, according to a study presented here at the 2010 Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) Annual Meeting. “We did find some reduction in liking of cigarettes and general decline in smoking when assessed retrospectively. However, we can’t say that this is why varenicline helps smokers to quit,” said Kenneth A. Perkins, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in a presentation on February 27. Dr. Perkins and colleagues conducted a study to examine the effects of varenicline versus placebo on smoking behaviour and reward during a single acute smoking session. A total of 110 adult smokers were enrolled (43.6% male). They rated their own cigarette following a 1-week run-up period with either varenicline (0.5 mg every day, then 0.5 mg twice a day) in counter-balanced order and separated by 1 week of ad lib smoking on no medication. Study measures including rating smoking behaviour with a pocket topography device, which measures the number of puffs and total puff volume, and the smokers’ subjective rating of their cigarettes, which included how much they liked the cigarette, how much nicotine the cigarette contained, and whether it was similar to their own brand. Current interest in quitting and sex were between-subjects factors, while medication condition was the within-subjects factor. A repeated measures analysis of variance showed a main effect of varenicline on liking (P < .001), similarity to their own brand (P < .001), and how much nicotine (P < .05). There were no effects of varenicline on smoking behaviour. For liking and number of puffs, the main effects were significant for quit interest and for sex. Liking and number of puffs were lower in those with high versus low interest in quitting, and in women versus men. The authors concluded that varenicline lowered the subjective reward ratings of cigarettes, but not the actual smoking behaviour in a single acute session under blind conditions. “Our results were based on a small sample and a ‘simulated’ quit attempt with varenicline, so we can’t be sure these results extend to actual clinical attempts to quit,” said Dr. Perkins, adding that the effects of varenicline over longer durations of opportunity to smoke should be further studied in smokers attempting to quit permanently. Funding for this study was provided by the National Institutes of Health. [Presentation title: Acute Effects of Varenicline on Smoking Behavior and Reward. Abstract POS5-40]
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