I was very serious..
Efficacy of Nicotine in Preventing COVID-19 Infection
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic represents a major therapeutic challenge. The highly contagious severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) and the long duration of the disease have led to a massive influx of patients admitted in health services and intensive care units.
According to current knowledge, there are no treatments that prevent the spread of the infection, especially in exposed populations, or the disease progression to a severe form.
Daily active smokers are infrequent among outpatients or hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Several arguments suggest that nicotine is responsible for this protective effect via the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR).
Nicotine may inhibit the penetration and spread of the virus and have a prophylactic effect in COVID-19 infection.
However, the epidemic is progressing throughout French territory and new variants (in particular the “English B1. 1.7 variant of SARS-COV-2”) much more contagious run a risk of accelerating the epidemic in the population. The anti-SARS-COV-2 vaccines recently launched (or being evaluated) represent great hope in this health crisis, but trials were only able to show their effectiveness on symptomatic forms of SARS-COV-2 infection.
On the one hand, the vaccination campaign for the entire population requires many months, which leaves many unprotected subjects waiting. In addition, there is currently no evidence of a protective role of vaccines against asymptomatic forms of COVID-19 and therefore on SARS-COV-2 transmission. Finally, the nicotine patches may protect people in high-risk areas/periods until they are vaccinated (if they accept it and are eligible for it) and in the post-vaccination weeks necessary for the effectiveness of the vaccine, which reinforces the importance of evaluating this alternative prevention strategy, in the context of the arrival of vaccines
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04583410
Nicotine and the nicotinic cholinergic system in COVID-19
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32790936/
..... the ill effects of smoking are amply documented, and no doubt can be a confounding factor in COVID-19 progression. Although conflicting hypotheses on the potential role of nicotine in COVID-19 pathology have recently been offered, we believe that nicotine itself, through its interaction with the nicotinic cholinergic system, as well as ACE2, may not only be of use in a variety of neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases, but may also be of potential use in COVID-19. Thus, on one hand, while we strongly support smoking cessation as a means of harm reduction associated with COVID-19, on the other hand, we support a potential therapeutic role for nicotine, nicotinic agonists, or positive allosteric modulators of nicotinic cholinergic receptors in COVID-19, owing to their varied effects including mood regulation, anti-inflammatory, and purported interference with SARS-CoV-2 entry and/or replication.
Anti-inflammatory effects of nicotine in obesity and ulcerative colitis
Nicotine suppresses the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines
There is no doubt that the net effect of cigarette smoking is pro-inflammatory primarily as a result of increased oxidative stress, which occurs when the amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated in cells exceeds the capacity of normal detoxification systems
Conclusion
Much work remains in terms of understanding the anti-inflammatory effects of nicotine in obesity-related inflammation and ulcerative colitis. However, it is now known that the α7nAChR plays a major role in the anti-inflammatory effects of nicotine and nicotine attenuates inflammation in both obesity and ulcerative colitis. What these findings suggest is the potential use of selective α7nAChR agonists as a new class of anti-inflammatory drugs. Despite tremendous efforts, obesity and obesity-related disorders remain at epidemic proportions and the etiology of ulcerative colitis remains unclear. Since the inflammatory response is an integral process in both obesity and ulcerative colitis, controlling the inflammatory response could ameliorate tissue damage. The effectiveness of α7nAChR agonists as a drug target will ultimately depend upon a clear understanding of the collective biological consequences of peripheral nAChR expression on inflammation. In addition, it should also be considered that the development of nicotine as a therapeutic intervention has its limitations due to toxicity related side effects and pharmacological non-specificity.
https://translational-medicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1479-5876-9-129#Sec10