BACKGROUND Varenicline is an efficacious smoking-cessation drug. However, previous meta-analyses provide conflicting results regarding its cardiovascular safety. The publication of several new randomized controlled trials (RCTs) provides an opportunity to reassess this potential adverse drug reaction. METHODS AND RESULTS We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library for RCTs that comp...

There are currently three licensed therapies for smoking cessation: nicotine replacement (NR), bupropion and varenicline. NR can be indicated for: 1) aid in abrupt cessation; 2) gradual reduction in order to quit smoking; 3) temporary abstinence; and 4) smoking reduction maintenance. A meta-analysis has found that the relative risk of abstinence for any form of NR relative to control was 1.6. I...

BACKGROUND Cigarette smoking causes reduced health-related quality of life (QoL) and smoking abstinence improves health-related QoL. We assessed the effects of treatment for tobacco dependence on the health-related QoL in a 52-week randomized controlled trial of varenicline and bupropion sustained release (SR). METHODS Subjects who smoked ≥10 cigarettes per day for the past year were randomly...

Nicotinic agonists display a wide-range profile of antinociceptive activity in acute, tonic, and chronic pain models. However, their effectiveness is limited by their unacceptable side effects. We investigated the antinociceptive effects of two new α4β2* nicotinic partial agonists, varenicline and sazetidine-A, in acute thermal and tonic pain mouse models. Both drugs failed to induce significan...

BACKGROUND Some smokers may benefit from a therapy that combines different nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) or drugs with different mechanisms of action.The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of the combined therapy of varenicline and nicotine patches versus varenicline monotherapy. METHODS Three hundred forty-one smokers who smoked 20 or more cigarettes per day were recruite...

Introduction: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a enfeeble neurodegenerative disorder characterized by increased β-amyloid (Aβ) deposition and neuronal dysfunction leading to impaired learning and recall. Among proposed risk factors, impaired cholinergic transmission is a main cause for incidence of disease. Methods: In the present study, effects of the intracerebroventricularly administration of an ...

CIGARETTE SMOKING REMAINS the leading preventable cause of illness and premature death in the United States, claiming an estimated 438 000 lives per year. Research over the past 3 decades has identified effective treatments for smoking, including counseling, social support, and several pharmacotherapies. However, current pharmacological and nonpharmacological smoking cessation treatments have l...

BACKGROUND Varenicline and bupropion are effective smoking cessation treatments, but there are concerns about their safety in smokers with COPD. OBJECTIVE To investigate whether varenicline and bupropion are associated with serious adverse cardiovascular and neuropsychiatric events in smokers with COPD. METHODS In a retrospective cohort study, we used data from 14 350 patients with COPD inc...

OBJECTIVES A meta-analysis suggested that the use of varenicline, which is a partial agonist of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and is effective in smoking cessation, increases the risk of cardiovascular events within 52 weeks of starting treatment. Defining these events as occurring during drug treatment (usually for 12 weeks) or within 30 days of discontinuation, another meta-analysis showe...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the cost-effectiveness of varenicline with nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) for smoking cessation in four European countries (Belgium, France, Sweden and the UK). METHODS Markov simulations, using the Benefits of Smoking Cessation on Outcomes (BENESCO) model, were performed. We simulated the incidence of four smoking-related morbi...