French Scientists Test Nicotine to Combat Coronavirus

French scientists are starting within three weeks testing a hypothesis that nicotine can help the body fight Covid-19 infection. The experiment will include 1,900 health workers, patients who wear nicotine patches, and other groups that place fake stickers.

They will then be examined to see if there is any difference in their body's reaction to Covid-19's coronavirus.

The trial is the completion of a French study published this month based on public health data that apparently showed people who smoke had a 19% lower risk of contracting coronavirus than people who did not smoke of the same age and gender.

In their study, the scientists assumed that the nicotine used to make cigarettes might affect the ability of coronavirus molecules to bind to receptors in the body.

“You have the virus which arrives on the receptor, and the nicotine blocks that, and they separate,” said Jean-Pierre Changeux, emeritus professor of neuroscience at France’s Pasteur institute, describing the hypothetical process.

He co-authored the study with Zahir Amoura, a professor at Paris’ Pitie-Salpetriere University Hospital, and they are both conducting the trial.

Amoura said the most significant part of the trial could be the testing on a sample group of 1,500 health professionals.

The researchers said they would be careful to ensure their research did not encourage people to take up smoking, given its harmful effects on human health. “That would be catastrophic,” said Changeux.

Upon the publishing of the earlier study which suggested smokers may be less likely to contract COVID-19, France severely curtailed the sale of nicotine products. .

The decree, issued by the Ministry of Health, limits pharmacies from selling more than a one-month supply of any nicotine products aimed at curbing dependence to cigarettes. Each sale is to be logged by pharmacies whether the buyer had a doctor's prescription or not.