Translational Medicine

Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (2008); 83, 4, 619–621. doi:10.1038/sj.clpt.6100474

Monoamine Oxidase Inhibition for Tobacco Pharmacotherapy

TP George1 and AH Weinberger2

  1. 1Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  2. 2Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

Correspondence: TP George, (tony.george@utoronto.ca)

Received 5 October 2007; Accepted 5 November 2007; Published online 19 December 2007.

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Abstract

Tobacco addiction is the most significant preventable cause of morbidity and mortality in the Western world, with >430,000 deaths annually from tobacco-related diseases being reported in the United States.1 Although effective treatments are available for cessation of smoking (e.g., nicotine replacement therapies, sustained-release bupropion and varenicline), they do not work for all smokers. Therefore the development of more effective medications for treating tobacco dependence, based on novel mechanisms, is a high priority.2 This article reviews the links between smoking and monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibition, which could lead to the development of novel pharmacotherapies to treat tobacco dependence.

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