Nicotine-Eating Bacteria May Help Create New Anti-Smoking Drug

Research published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society shows that scientists are working on developing a new kind of anti-smoking drug based on a bacteria that actually eats nicotine before it reaches the brain.

"Our research is in the early phase of drug development process, but the study tells us the enzyme has the right properties to eventually become a successful therapeutic," said Kim Janda, senior author and professor of chemistry.

Researchers found a bacterium known as Pseudomonas putida that's isolated from the soil of a tobacco field that eats nicotine as its only source of nitrogen and carbon. This bacterium relies heavily on the enzyme NicA2, which eats nicotine before it reaches the brain.

Furthermore, the enzyme drops the half-life of nicotine from 2-3 hours to 9-15 minutes from the moment it enters the bloodstream. When this happens, smokers no longer feel the pleasure highs associated with smoking, pushing them to quite doing the activity.

"The bacterium is like a little Pac-Man. It goes along and eats nicotine," added Janda. "Our research is in the early phase of drug development process, but the study tells us the enzyme has the right properties to eventually become a successful therapeutic."

Though more research will be needed, scientists are hopeful that in time, it will be very successful.

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