'Smoking vaccine' blocks nicotine in mice brains: study

Smokers could one day be immunized against nicotine so they gain no pleasure from the habit, according to researchers in the United States. They have devised a vaccine that floods the body with an antibody to assault nicotine entering the body, BBC News reported Wednesday.

A study in mice, published in Science Translational Medicine, showed levels of the chemical in the brain were reduced by 85 percent after vaccination, BBC said.

Lead researcher Prof Ronald Crystal is convinced there will be benefits, the British broadcaster said.

"As far as we can see, the best way to treat chronic nicotine addiction from smoking is to have these Pacman-like antibodies on patrol, clearing the blood as needed before nicotine can have any biological effect."

Other "smoking vaccines" have been developed that train the immune system to produce antibodies that bind to nicotine -- it is the same method used to vaccinate against diseases. The challenge has been to produce enough antibodies to stop the drug entering the brain and delivering its pleasurable hit.