Researchers are looking at whether nicotine patches can displace SARS-CoV-2 spike protein from attaching to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAchR) and controlling nerve and brain function in Long Covid.
Most people who catch Covid-19 are over it within 2 days to 2 weeks. But for some the symptoms last much, much longer and can seemingly be permanent. This is most commonly referred to as ‘Long Covid’ or post-Covid Syndrome. In the USA they also call it long-haul COVID-19, and even post acute sequelae of SARS COV-2 infection (PASC). Whatever you call it, the effects are varied but can leave people in a poor to dreadful state for months and even years.
Many of the symptoms are similar to those of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, an illness that starts in the gut microbiome. And Covid is known to have effects on the microbiome. Fatigue, digestive issues, shortness of breath, loss of taste or smell, rapidly beating heart and joint or muscle pain. Neurological problems are common - such as an inability to concentrate, a change of sleeping patterns, headaches, dizziness, depression and more.
The effects often recur. They may start between one month and one year after having COVID. In the USA, 1 in 5 people aged 18 to 64 has at least one medical condition resulting from COVID-19; In the 64+ age group it is 1 in 4. (Source: Mayo Clinic)
Many researchers have focussed on the gut. Some have focussed on the ubiquitous ACE2 receptor. ACE2 is at high levels in the gut lining, blood vessels, coronary artery, lungs and on the blood-brain barrier. Covid-19 is known to bind to ACE2, which acts as the entry point for the virus into your cells (1). Researchers have been looking at ways of blocking ACE2.
But recently several researchers have demonstrated that the SARS-CoV-2 related spike glycoprotein (SGP) attaches not only to ACE-2 receptors but also has DNA sections having high affinity to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the body. The nACh receptor (nAChR) is the route by which choline can modify your neurons and their pathways; it's the network controlling nerve and brain function.
When the Covid-19 virus attaches to this receptor, cognitive, neuromuscular and mood impairment symptoms occur. In extreme cases it can cause almost vegetative symptoms. These are typical symptoms of Long Covid.
However, nicotine itself has a 30-fold higher affinity for this receptor than acetyl-choline, prompting the thought that perhaps nicotine (for example, derived from a nicotine patch) could displace the Covid virus. Early (2021) epidemiology studies amongst smokers suggested that smokers seemed to develop less ‘Long Covid’ than non-smokers or past smokers (2).
A study from the American National Institutes of Health was quick to show flaws in this study using nicotine in water fed to mice (3). It stated that nicotine exposure had no effect of moribundity, but did conclude that nicotine could decrease the likelihood of SARS-CoV-2 RNA expression and neuropathology. In particular, if the mice were pre-exposed to nicotine before Covid exposure.
However, a limited German study showed that by treating Long Covid patients with nicotine patches, improvements in human patients were seen in just a few days (4). In four individual cases of Long Covid, researchers looked to stimulate the receptor with nicotine. "In each case, signs of exhaustion such as fatigue, weakness, breathlessness and exercise intolerance improved rapidly and across the board following nicotine exposure (at the very latest by day six) via a nicotine patch. In cases with impairment or loss of the senses of taste and smell, improvement was observed over a longer period, with complete restoration of these senses over anywhere from thirteen to sixteen days."
Clearly some large scale studies are needed for sufferers.
However, Nicotine doesn’t help in extreme Covid infection. In a randomised, placebo controlled trial of 220 patients, there was no evidence among Covid 19 patients requiring ventilation for severe pneumonia that a nicotine patch provided any benefit (5).
Chris Woollams, a founder of CANCERactive and Oxford University Biochemist added, ‘People suffering Long Covid symptoms have almost been forgotten about. It's dreadful. For something so important, there is very limited research on treating Long Covid, especially with nicotine patches. From what I have read, I definitely think it’s worth a try against this really debilitating disease. For the record, we also have research showing nicotine may reverse the early stages of Dementia and similar diseases; and there are several studies which show nicotine does NOT cause cancer as a lone compound.”
Go to: How you might neutralise Spike protein in your body
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References
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Understanding the role of ACE-2 receptor in pathogenesis of COVID-19 disease: a potential approach for therapeutic intervention; Ekta Shirbhateet al; Pharmacol Rep. 2021; 73(6): 1539–1550.
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The association of smoking status with SARS-CoV-2 infection, hospitalization and mortality from COVID-19: A living rapid evidence review with Bayesian meta-analyses (version 7). Simons, D.,et al; Addiction 116, 1319–1368 (2021).
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Nicotine exposure decreases likelihood of SARS-CoV-2 RNA expression and neuropathology in the hACE2 mouse brain but not moribundity. Letsinger, A.C., Ward, J.M., Fannin, R.D. et al. Sci Rep 13, 2042 (2023).
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Is the post-COVID-19 syndrome a severe impairment of acetylcholine-orchestrated neuromodulation that responds to nicotine administration? Marco Leitzke: Bioelectron Med. 2023; Jan18, 9(1):2.
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Nicotine patches in patients on mechanical ventilation for severe COVID-19: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre trial; Guylaine Labro et al, Intensive Care Med. 2022; 48(7): 876–887.