The influence of mecamylamine on trigeminal and olfactory chemoreception of nicotine.

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide).

The aim of their study in humans was to investigate the effects of mecamylamine on the olfactory and the trigeminal chemoreception of nicotine enantiomers.

In order to achieve this aim, the researchers determined-before and after mecamylamine-(1) detection thresholds, trigeminal thresholds, and intensity estimates (stimulus intensity) and (2) recorded the negative mucosal potential (NMP) following nasal stimulation with nicotine in a placebo-controlled double blind study (n = 15).

Why It Was Studied

Nicotine presented to the nasal cavity at low concentrations evokes 'odorous' sensations, and at higher concentrations 'burning' and 'stinging' sensations.

Mecamylamine, a nicotinic acetylcholine-receptor-(nAch-R) antagonist, was able to block painful responses following chemical stimulation of the human tongue and to block responses from the rat's ethmoidal nerve.

Who Took Part

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were teenagers, adults and middle-aged adults.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and crossover.

Because people in this Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

As a double-blind Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) could be set against what happens without it.

In the crossover set-up each of the participants took both Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) and the comparison in turn, acting as their own control.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Chemoreceptor Cells, Drug Interactions, Evoked Potentials, Mecamylamine, Multivariate Analysis, Nicotine and Nicotinic Antagonists.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide).

The publication is from 2006 (Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology), a journal based in England.

More context: the Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) compound page, all human trials.