A noninvasive method for delivering controlled doses of nicotine via cigarette smoke

A cigarette-smoke delivery system is described in which nicotine dosage was delimited by having the subject inhale a measured amount of smoke to a predetermined depth and duration of inhalation. A plastic syringe was used to “inject” a specified amount of cigarette smoke into the subject’s mouth, and an airbag containing 1 liter of air was used to provide a “chaser” with a fixed volume of inhalation for the smoke. Using plasma nicotine boost as an indicator, dose control was found to be nearly linear for the three dose levels employed; in the high-dose condition, plasma nicotine levels were moderately consistent within subjects over three successive administrations. Between-subject variability was considerably greater than within-subject variability, however, suggesting that each smoker obtained a characteristic nicotine boost that reflected individual differences in nicotine pharmacokinetics in addition to nicotine intake per se.