Varenicline for the Treatment of Smokeless Tobacco
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2011-01-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Varenicline (Chantix™, Pfizer) is a novel selective nicotinic receptor partial agonist with
specificity for the α4β2 nicotine acetylcholine receptor that has demonstrated remarkable
efficacy for increasing long-term tobacco abstinence rates in cigarette smokers. The novel
mechanism of action of varenicline potentially circumvents the limitations of using nicotine
replacement therapy or bupropion pharmacotherapy in ST users. The overall goal of this line
of research is to develop effective pharmacologic treatments for ST users to increase
long-term (≥ 6 months) abstinence rates. The central hypothesis of this application is that
varenicline is efficacious for the treatment of ST users.