New study says cigarette promoted as less lethal may be more addictive

By Michael Ford
University News Services

RICHMOND, Va. – A new cigarette designed to produce less toxic smoke and contain fewer of the cancer-causing agents found in tobacco may be more addictive than conventional light or ultra-light cigarettes, according to a Virginia Commonwealth University study released today.

The study, conducted by a team of researchers at VCU’s Clinical Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory, concluded that the Advance cigarette produced by Star Scientific, Inc., delivers higher amounts of nicotine into the bloodstream. Funded by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the study was presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco in Savannah, GA.

"The Advance produces similar results to normal cigarettes when comparing withdrawal suppression and heart rate increases and may deliver slightly less carbon monoxide," said Thomas E. Eissenberg, Ph.D., VCU assistant professor of psychology and head of the Clinical Pharmacology Laboratory, which is part of VCU’s Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies.

"But nicotine levels detected in the bloodstream for Advance were significantly higher as compared with the cigarettes regularly smoked by study participants," Eissenberg said. "Higher nicotine levels have implications for increased dependence on cigarettes."

Several cigarette companies are developing smoking products with potentially lower levels of the components that make cigarette smoking lethal. Star Scientific, of Chester, Va., promotes Advance as low in cancer-causing toxins. Star Scientific uses a tobacco-curing method it has trademarked under the name StarCure that it says significantly reduces toxins in cigarettes. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., the third-largest tobacco company in the United States, is test marketing cigarettes using tobacco cured with the StarCure process.

Eissenberg and researchers at the Clinical Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory are measuring the effects of new cigarettes, including Advance, on smokers’ health. In mid 2000, the researchers released results of a study of the Accord "smokeless cigarette" by Philip Morris and concluded that this product failed to suppress withdrawal symptoms as effectively as regular cigarettes.

In the latest research, on Advance, Eissenberg and researchers Alison B. Breland, Nadia Hyder, Sarah E. Evans and August R. Buchhalter studied 20 smokers of light or ultra-light cigarettes for three 2.5-hour sessions. Prior to the sessions, participants abstained from smoking for eight hours, which researchers say created tobacco withdrawal.

In each session, participants completed an eight-puff smoking period every 30 minutes, for a total of four smoking periods. For the study, participants smoked their own brand of cigarette, Advance or they sham smoked, which is a control measure defined as puffing on an unlit cigarette. Participants rated measures of tobacco/nicotine withdrawal. Expired carbon monoxide and heart rate also were also measured, and blood samples were taken at the beginning and end of each session.

Analyses indicated Advance performed like a conventional cigarette when measuring withdrawal suppression and heart rate. Carbon monoxide levels were slightly lower, but nicotine levels for Advance – measured in the blood of participants – were higher compared with nicotine levels measured after the participants smoked their regular cigarettes.

"If Advance contains fewer carcinogens as Star Scientific contends, this could have positive implications for smokers, said Breland. "However, if the higher nicotine levels means it would be harder for smokers to quit smoking, then it may not reduce the harm associated with smoking."