Nicotine Kills Tuberculosis

A University of Central Florida investigator said that someday nicotine might be a perfect alternative for treating stubborn forms of tuberculosis.

Saleh Naser, an associate professor of microbiology and molecular biology at UCF, said that the compound quitted the growth of tuberculosis in laboratory tests, even when used in small quantities. Nicotine showed better results than about 10 other matters tested. If the investigation proves itself in further study, sick people might get intravenous doses or swallow capsules of nicotine to prevent their TB in the future.

Most scientists agree that nicotine causes people to be addicted to tobacco products. Naser said: “Can you imagine if we can get something useful out of it? It’s the best thing I’ve seen to date. It shows there is some hope that this substance we’ve hated for so long might be formulated in one way or another to fight infectious diseases.”

He tested nicotine for a long time because it is the most-studied compound in the tobacco plant and found out that nicotine slayed regular tuberculosis. It worked even when used in small dose that is in a single cigarette. The scientist said such small quantities do not cause addiction.

In most cases tuberculosis is treatable but anyway requires at least 6 months of antibiotics. When people fail to finish their cure, they can develop dangerous complications of the disease.

The infectious disease is caused by a bacterium that is spread through the air when an infected person coughs.

Dr. Boubker Naouri, TB program manager for the Orange County Health Department said: “The biggest problem we have with TB is compliance. People don't want to take their medications, and we can end up with something that takes even longer to treat. If we can have better drugs that work faster, it would be a big help.”