Helping Smokers Quit Through Pharmacogenetics

Recently, the Food and Drug Administration approved a new drug, varenicline, to help people quit smoking. It is the first new smoking cessation drug in nearly a decade, and joins just two other pharmacotherapy approaches [nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs) and bupropion] that have been proven effective for the treatment of tobacco dependence. However, even the most effective treatments help just one in four smokers quit longterm. Smoking is the single most preventable cause of death in the U.S., killing nearly 440,000 Americans each year. Nearly 45 million Americans smoke, and about 32 million of them would like to quit. Evolving knowledge about the human genome and the neurobiology of nicotine addiction holds great potential for improving smoking cessation treatments. This Issue Brief reviews ongoing work at Penn’s Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center (TTURC) to unravel the genetic factors that might affect smoking cessation and to develop more effective treatment strategies

Narrative Health Communication and Behavior Change: The Influence of Exemplars in the News on Intention to Quit Smoking.

This study investigated psychological mechanisms underlying the effect of narrative health communication on behavioral intention. Specifically, the study examined how exemplification in news about successful smoking cessation affects recipients\u27 narrative engagement, thereby changing their intention to quit smoking. Nationally representative samples of U.S. adult smokers participated in 2 experiments. The results from the 2 experiments consistently showed that smokers reading a news article with an exemplar experienced greater narrative engagement compared to those reading an article without an exemplar. Those who reported more engagement were in turn more likely to report greater smoking cessation intentions

Lower Nicotine Cigarettes may not Lower Harm

In 2005, nearly 21% of American adults smoked cigarettes, and 81% of them smoked every day. For smokers unable or unwilling to quit, tobacco products that reduce the adverse health effects of smoking may be an attractive option. Potentially reduced exposure products (PREPs) were developed by the tobacco industry in response to smokers’ health concerns. PREPs purportedly lower the tar and/or nicotine levels of cigarettes, although the actual harm reduced remains questionable. One of the most recent additions to this product class are cigarettes that use genetically modified tobacco to reduce nicotine levels. This Issue Brief summarizes studies that investigate [1] how this product is used and [2] the messages smokers take away from product marketing. These complementary studies send a cautionary signal about the ability of these new cigarettes to reduce the harmful effects of smoking

The public health utility of genome-wide association study results for smoking behavior

New approaches to improve smoking cessation rates are needed. In recent years, substantial progress has been made in understanding the genetics of smoking behavior, and this knowledge may eventually be used to personalize treatment for smokers. Although there are highly significant and reproducible genetic associations, none are yet ready for clinical applications. We suggest that translational research from several disciplines, including behavioral science, ethics and economics, should be performed in parallel with ongoing genome-wide association studies for smoking behavior and pharmacogenetic trials. The coordinated effort of multidisciplinary research teams will help reveal the circumstances under which we can translate genetic insights into clinical practice in the hope of reducing the burden of smoking in society

News about Genetics and Smoking Priming, Family Smoking History, and News Story Believability on Inferences of Genetic Susceptibility to Tobacco Addiction

Print news stories about genetics convey information to the public. This study assesses the effects of priming a belief in genetic susceptibility to smoking addiction on smokers\u27 inferences about their own susceptibility to smoking addiction, their efficacy to quit smoking, and their intention to get a genetic test for addiction susceptibility. Respondents were 450 young adult smokers surveyed on the telephone in a randomized experiment embedded in a questionnaire about cigarette smoking practices. In the priming condition, respondents heard a news story about genes for smoking addiction. In the unprimed condition, respondents heard a news story concerning the gender of the offspring of smokers. Priming with the genetics news story did not affect respondents\u27 inferences about personal genetic susceptibility to smoking addiction. However, those finding the news story believable and having a strong family history of smoking were more likely to infer a greater personal genetic susceptibility