How can sophisticated analytical assays help with your smoking cessation programme?
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Author(s)
Mira V. Doig and Colin Feyerabend
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| Presenter(s) |
Dr Mira Doig Laboratory & QA Manager, ABS Laboratories Ltd, Welwyn Garden City |
Colin Feyerabend Managing Director, ABS Laboratories Ltd, Welwyn Garden City |
Abstract Cotinine is a metabolite of nicotine and its presence in biological fluids indicate nicotine intake. Research has shown that cotinine levels in saliva directly correlate with those in plasma so measuring cotinine in a saliva sample from a smoker can then be related to the actual amount of nicotine inhaled. In addition, research now indicates that smoking cessation is more successful if even more information is known such as if the smoker is a fast or slow metaboliser of nicotine. This too can be ascertained in the same sample by assaying cotinine and another metabolite, 3-hydroxy cotinine so from one saliva sample you could find out the level of nicotine your smoker usually inhales (or in the case of smokeless tobacco absorbs) in a day and how quickly it is metabolised.
Quantification of these nicotine metabolites can then help with the selection of an appropriate smoking cessation programme. Then testing samples during and at the end of your cessation programme can measure its success. Worried about compliance to an NRT regime then measure anabasine, a tobacco alkaloid? It’s only there if they’re cheating. Data on the analytical methodology used and how these tests help with smoking cessation will be presented.
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Presenter biography Dr Mira Doig.
My PhD involved identifying and quantifying various mediators of inflammation in biological fluids using HPLC and GC-MS. In 1981 I joined a Pharmaceutical Company, Wellcome where I employed similar techniques to analyse a variety of drugs and metabolites in biological fluids. By 1996 after 15 years in this business I had become a principal scientist/deputy head of department of about 70 people in the Drug Metabolism and Bioanalysis department at Wellcome at their R&D site at Beckenham Kent. In 1995 Wellcome merged with Glaxo and as I did not want to relocate the family, I joined forces with Dr Colin Feyerabend and set up a specialist CRO, ABS Laboratories Ltd.
Dr Colin Feyerabend
I starting developing analytical assays to assay nicotine and its metabolites in 1973 when I joined Prof Malcolm Russell’s MRC funded programme grant looking at nicotine and the dangers of smoking. I have analysed samples from numerous research studies since that time. Unfortunately the MRC funding finished in 1995 so I set up ABS Laboratories Ltd so that we could continue analysing samples plus expand into analysing other drugs, metabolites and biomarkers in a variety of biological fluids. With Dr Doig’s knowledge of mass spectrometry and the Pharmaceutical Industry and my knowledge of smoking research the company grew to the well equipped GLP/GCP accredited laboratory that it is today.
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Source of funding: Private
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Declaration of interest: Mira Doig and Colin Feyerabend are co-owners of ABS Laboratories Ltd
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