Nicotinamide

TUESDAY, Aug. 13, 2024 -- There are discrepancies between labeled and measured concentrations of nicotine analogues in electronic cigarettes and e-cigarette liquids, according to a research letter published online Aug. 7 in the Journal of the American Medical Association . Hanno C. Erythropel, Ph.D., from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and colleagues quantified constituents of e-cigarette products containing nicotine analogues to assess product consistency. The analysis included nine available flavors of product 1 labeled as containing 5 percent 6-methylnicotine (6MN) and two flavors of product 2 at four concentrations of nicotinamide (0, 12, 24, and 36 mg/mL) that were purchased between November 2023 and February 2024 from three major online retailers. The researchers found that 6MN presence was confirmed in all product 1 flavors. Both nicotinamide and 6MN were detected in product 2 samples labeled as containing nicotinamide (six of eight). No sample contained nicotine. Product 1 was labeled as containing 5 percent 6MN (50 mg/g), but the analysis showed it only contained 5.8 to 6.3 mg/g (87 to 88 percent less than labeled). In product 2, samples contained nicotinamide contents 7 to 46 percent less than as labeled. Although product 2 labels did not list 6MN as an ingredient, 6MN was detected (0.06 to 0.17 mg/g) when nicotinamide was present. Product 1 samples contained only the (S)-6MN stereoisomer, which previous research showed is more potent and addictive than the (R) form. Product 1 samples all contained the artificial sweetener neotame (0.20 to 0.86 mg/g) and the synthetic coolant 2-isopropyl-N-2,3-trimethylbutyramide (WS-23; 4.34 to 16.39 mg/g) plus various flavorants, whereas product 2 samples did not contain sweeteners or coolants. "With e-cigarettes increasingly considered for smoking cessation , the advent of nicotine analogue-containing products with unknown health risks raises concern," the authors write.

THURSDAY, Aug. 8, 2024 -- That vape pen might contain something even worse than nicotine, new research warns. Tobacco companies may be trying to duck federal restrictions on vaping products by replacing nicotine with “nicotine analogs” -- related chemicals that have similar properties but unknown health effects, researchers report. “Vaping products containing nicotine are subject to federal laws that prohibit sales to people under the age of 21,” explained researcher Dr. Sairam Jabba , a toxicologist at Duke University School of Medicine, in Durham, N.C. “Nicotine analogs are currently not subject to the FDA process and have not been studied for their health effects.” “It’s possible manufacturers are attempting to avoid FDA tobacco regulation,” Jabba added in a Duke news release. A lab analysis of nicotine analog vapes sold in the United States also “found significant and concerning inaccuracies in the ingredients these products claim to contain and what they actually contain,” Jabba said. For example, a vaping brand called Spree Bar, which comes in at least nine flavors, is listed as containing 5% 6-methyl nicotine, researchers said. A nicotine analog, 6-methyl nicotine has been shown in rodent experiments to be far more potent in targeting the brain’s nicotine receptors, researchers noted. It’s also more toxic than nicotine. Analysis of the Spree Bar products found they contained 88% less 6-methyl nicotine than labeled. They also contained an artificial sweetener up to 13,000 times sweeter than table sugar and an artificial coolant that mimics menthol. Another analog called nicotinamide is being marketed as targeting the same brain receptors as nicotine, even though evidence has shown it doesn’t bind to those receptors, researchers said. E-cigarettes labeled as containing nicotinamide -- Nixotine, Nixodine, Nixamide and Nic-Safe -- had levels lower than their labels indicated, and were combined with undisclosed amounts of 6-methyl nicotine, researchers found. “These products appear to be designed to circumvent the laws and regulations in place to protect people -- especially children -- from the harmful effects of smoking and tobacco use,” said co-senior researcher Sven Eric Jordt , research project director with the Yale Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science. “We do not know what these chemicals do when they are heated and inhaled,” Jordt stressed. “These are questions that should be answered before we allow products on the market.” In late May, a coalition of anti-tobacco groups warned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of at least three nicotine analog products being sold in the United States. Two of the products, Spree Bar and a snuff made by Outlaw Dip Co., argue on web sites and in promotional videos that their products are not subject to FDA regulation, their letter to FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf noted. However, the promotional materials also promise the same sort of effects from nicotine analogs that people get from actual nicotine, the letter added. The letter quotes Spree Bar promotional materials as promising that the product “provides the same satisfaction, pleasure and enjoyment as traditional tobacco products and nicotine e-cigarettes.” The FDA letter was co-signed by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Parents Against Vaping E-cigarettes and Truth Initiative. The research was published Aug. 7 in the Journal of the American Medical Association . Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.