Effectiveness of nicotine patches in relation to genotype in women versus men: randomised controlled trial

Abstract

The overall effectiveness of nicotine replacement therapy could be greater if the therapy were targeted at those most likely to respond. A randomised controlled trial of nicotine patches in 1991-2 recruited 1686 heavy smokers. The participants wore patches for 12 weeks. Abstinence from smoking was confirmed at one week by expired carbon monoxide concentration < 10 ppm, and at 12, 24, and 52 weeks by salivary cotinine concentration < 20 ng/ml or by expired carbon monoxide concentration < 10 ppm. In 1999-2000, we contacted 1532 of the 1625 participants still alive; the mean time from trial to follow up was 8.3 years. In all, 752/1532 gave a blood sample from which DRD2 32806 was successfully typed. Participants were older than non-participants, more likely to be female, and more likely to have quit for a year in the trial; 744 reported their racial background as white. In women, the effectiveness of the patches differed with genotype at all time points. In men, the genotype groups did not differ significantly at any dine. In men with CC genotype an apparent trend in effectiveness was in an implausible direction, the patches being most effective long after therapy had stopped. In both sexes, when active and placebo groups were combined, the quit rate was not related to genotype. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)