According to French researchers, nicotine could have a protective effect against infection with the new coronavirus. The hypothesis is supported by the low number of smokers among hospitalized Covid-19 patients found in various studies around the world and its solid confirmation provided by a new French study on 350 hospitalized patients and 150 lighter who consulted, all with Covid-19 (confirmed by PCR test).
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"The hypothesis is that nicotine by binding to the cellular receptor used by the coronavirus prevents or retains it from binding to it"
"Among these patients, there were only 5% of smokers", explains the professor of internal medicine Zahir Amoura, who carried out this last study, that is to say "80% less smokers in Covid patients than in general population of same sex and the same age. "
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"The hypothesis is that nicotine by binding to the cell receptor used by the coronavirus prevents or retains it from attaching to it" and therefore from entering the cells and spreading in the organism, explains Pr Jean-Pierre Changeux, from the Pasteur Institute and the Collège de France. This world-renowned neurobiologist, specialist in nicotinic receptors, is co-author of an article on this subject in the Biology Reports of the Academy of Sciences, of which he is a member.
Nicotine patches administered at different dosages in three trials
As soon as the final green light is obtained, with the support of the Minister of Health Olivier Véran, nicotine patches will be administered at different dosages in three trials: preventive to caregivers, to see if this protects them; in therapy to patients hospitalized in medicine, in an attempt to reduce their symptoms; and finally to serious patients in intensive care, explains Professor Amoura. According to him, hospitalized smoker patients could see their condition worsen due to an abrupt withdrawal from tobacco, but this is worth checking.
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However, these studies should not encourage people to rush to smoke. Smoking damages the lungs and it is not good for health (cancer, heart attacks ...), remind doctors to dissuade them from rushing to the tobacco shop. The central role of the receptor in question, the "nicotinic acetylcholine receptor", in the spread of the virus, would explain in particular the variety of symptoms of Covid-19, including loss of smell and neurological disorders, the researchers say.