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Selegiline Might Aid Smoking Cessation
A DGReview of :"Effects of selegiline (l-deprenyl) during smoking and short-term abstinence"
Psychopharmacology
09/12/2002
By Mark Greener
Inhibiting monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B) during the early stages of an attempt to stop smoking might aid cessation.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, and Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States, treated 15 smokers with either 10 mg of the selective MAO-B inhibitor selegiline daily or placebo. Patients were treated for four days during each of two weeks. After a two-week washout, patients switched to the alternative regimen.
At a pre-determined session during each study week, patients could smoke ad lib. Volunteers noted withdrawal symptoms and mood daily. During the abstinence subjects, completed a modified Stroop test sensitive to the effects of withdrawal.
Selegiline reduced the severity of craving. This reduction was particularly marked during abstinence. Moreover, selegiline impaired performance on the modified Stroop test during subjects' attempts to abstain. Furthermore, during the pre-determined smoking sessions, selegiline reduced both cigarette consumption and the satisfaction that volunteers derived. This effect emerged before and after the brief attempt at abstinence.
The authors concluded that these findings confirm suggestions that dopamine plays an important role driving smoking behaviour and abstinence. The study also suggests that inhibiting MAO-B during the early stages of an attempt to stop smoking might aid cessation.
Psychopharmacology 2002;163:213-220
"Effects of selegiline (l-deprenyl) during smoking and short-term abstinence"
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