Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 European Journal of Applied Physiology https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-018-3819-x ORIGINAL ARTICLE Efect of nicotine on repeated bouts of anaerobic exercise in nicotine naïve individuals Robert Johnston 1  · Melissa Crowe 2,3  · Kenji Doma 2 Received: 9 November 2017 / Accepted: 29 January 2018 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018 Abstract Purpose Nicotine is a psychostimulant that is reported to be commonly supplemented by athletes. The purpose of the current study was to determine the efects of a rapidly absorbed form of nicotine on repeated bouts of anaerobic exercise, perception of exertion and a range of cardiovascular variables while monitoring side efect profles. Methods Sixteen healthy, nicotine naïve male athletes (24.1 ± 5.3 years, 179.0 ± 8.8 cm, 81.7 ± 13.5 kg, BMI 25.5 ± 3.0, Body fat% 13.2 ± 5.1%) completed two repeated 30 s Wingate tests with 3 min rest between bouts following consumption of either a 5-mg oral-dispersible nicotine strip (NIC) or a favour-matched placebo (PLA) in a randomised, double-blind, cross-over design. Before the Wingate test, resting heart rate and blood pressure were also measured prior to and following PLA and NIC ingestion. Results Peak and average power output were signifcantly greater following NIC administration compared to PLA (P < 0.01). Similarly, signifcant increases were also seen in heart rate and blood pressure following NIC administration compared to PLA (P < 0.01). No signifcant efect on pre-exercise side efect score, reaction time, rate of perceived exertion or post exercise blood lactate levels were observed (P > 0.05). Conclusions It was concluded that oral-dispersible nicotine strips increase repeated anaerobic performance, possibly through strong sympathetic stimulation, as evident by signifcant elevation of cardiovascular parameters. Keywords Nicotine · Supplement · Ergogenic aid · Sports doping · Anaerobic exercise Abbreviations ANOVA Analysis of variance BMI Body mass index DBP Diastolic blood pressure HR Heart rate ICC Intra-class correlation coefcient NIC Nicotine PLAC Placebo REP Repeatability session RPE Rating of perceived exertion SBP Systolic blood pressure SpO 2 Saturated oxygen percentage SST Serum-separating tube WADA World Anti-Doping Agency Introduction Athletes are constantly striving to gain an edge over their competitors which can take the form of trialling various psy- chostimulants to enhance performance. Therefore, athletes and sporting organisations are by their nature progressive, often pioneering innovations in the health and nutrition industry. Nicotine is a psychostimulant that is commonly supplemented by athletes to optimise performance. A recent study showed that 23% of the analysed anti-doping samples in 2011 contained nicotine or its metabolites which is com- parable to the world smoking rate of 25% but considerably higher than that expected in athlete populations (Marclay et al. 2011). Furthermore, review of individual sports indi- cated the prevalence of nicotine in urine samples was as high Communicated by I. Mark Olfert. * Melissa Crowe melissa.crowe@jcu.edu.au 1 College of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia 2 College of Healthcare Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia 3 Discipline of Sport and Exercise Science, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia