International Journal of Advanced Health Sciences • Vol 2 Issue 1 • May 2015 28 Anti-Nicotine Vaccine: An Insight Neethu Priya 1 , Manashvini S Patil 2 , Sarvani Murthy 3 , Smitha Byadarahally Raju 2 , Karthik Kumar Raju 4 , Shilpa Kuppareddy Shivaram 1 1 Reader, Post Graduate Student, Department of Oralpathology & Microbiology, Sri Hasanamba Dental College and Hospitals, Hassan, Karnataka, India, 2 Reader, Department of Oralpathology & Microbiology, Sri Hasanamba Dental College and Hospitals, Hassan, Karnataka, India, 3 Professor & Head, Department of Oralpathology & Microbiology, Sri Hasanamba Dental College and Hospitals, Hassan, Karnataka, India, 4 Senior Lecturer, Department of Oralpathology & Microbiology, Sri Hasanamba Dental College and Hospitals, Hassan, Karnataka, India Review Article among the key medical interventions to lower the global burden of tobacco-related disorders and death. Nicotine invokes addiction in smokers due to its pharmacokinetic properties. Among the majority of smokers who are motivated to quit without intervention, 95% relapse within a year. 1 Curbing the tobacco dependence necessitates effective long-term treatment for both economy and public health. 6 Over the years various pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods such as counseling, drug therapy, hypnosis, magnet therapy, acupuncture, low-level laser therapy, mind-body practices are being followed to combat tobacco addiction. Since these conventional methods have low efficacy and high relapse rate, anti-nicotine vaccines are a novel, immunologic approach currently in the pipeline against tobacco dependence. 6,10 An anti-nicotine vaccine produces antibodies for nicotine, which are too large to cross the blood-brain INTRODUCTION Tobacco dependence is the most common form of drug abuse. 1 Nicotine is the major component in tobacco that causes addiction and its other components like tar, volatile oxidant gases, carbon monoxide cause damage to health. 2,3 Chronic use of tobacco have been associated with serious diseases like coronary heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, stroke, vascular disease, chronic lung disease and cancer. 4 Smoking is a global healthcare problem. Worldwide tobacco usage is the leading cause of preventable death. 1,5 According to the World Health Organisation, there are 1.2 billion smokers and 5 million tobacco-related deaths annually by causing cardiovascular, respiratory, malignancy diseases, which accounts for 10% global mortality. 6 Smoking increases the risk of cancer in men by 23 times and in females by 13 times. 7 The life span of a smoker is seen to be reduced by 10 years. 8 If the current trend continues, it has been estimated that smoking will cause 10 million death by 2020. 9 Stopping smoking is Corresponding Author: Neethu Priya, Department of Oralpathology & Microbiology, Sri Hasanamba Dental College and Hospitals, Hassan - 573 201, Karnataka, India. Phone: +91-9740423048, E-mail: neethupriyasurabhi@gmail.com ABSTRACT Tobacco dependence is the most common form of drug abuse. Chronic use of tobacco has been associated with various diseases. Worldwide tobacco usage is the leading cause of preventable death. According to the World Health Organisation, there are 1.2 billion smokers and 5 million tobacco-related deaths annually by causing cardiovascular, respiratory, malignancy diseases, which accounts for 10% global mortality. Nicotine is the major component in tobacco that causes addiction. Over the years, various pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods like nicotine replacement therapy, antidepressants, counseling are commonly followed. These conventional methods have low efficacy and have high relapse rate. Anti-nicotine vaccines that are a novel immunologic approach in smoking cessation are currently in the pipeline. The concept of the anti-nicotine vaccine was introduced by E.H Cerny in 1990, based on active immunization against the nicotine molecule. Nicotine vaccines are a novel therapeutic approach to treating nicotine addiction by preventing the entry of nicotine into the brain. The primary role of such interventions will be in preventing relapse in smokers who are motivated to quit. Currently, nicotine vaccines are in Phase II and Phase III trials and if successful will be a boon against tobacco addiction. Some of the vaccines against nicotine that are under clinical trials are Nic VAX, NIC002, TA-NIC, CYT002-NicQb. The present article discusses the various vaccines that are available and the advantage of them over the routine conventional treatment modalities against nicotine addiction. Keywords: Addiction, Anti nicotine vaccine, Nicotine, Tobacco, Vaccine