FRIDAY, Nov. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Although nicotine is known to improve the symptoms of ulcerative colitis (UC), delivering it in enema form to avoid adverse effects does not appear to have an impact on UC, according to a study in the November issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
John R. Ingram of the department of gastroenterology at the Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust in Cardiff, U.K., and colleagues conducted a randomized, double-blind study for six weeks on 104 patients with active UC, using either 6-mg nicotine enemas or placebo enemas. Other UC treatment continued during the study, with 68 patients taking mesalamine, 15 patients taking prednisolone and 12 taking thiopurines.
Throughout the study, the researchers examined whether nicotine delivery by enema could avoid the side effects of transdermal treatment. They also monitored adverse events and salivary cotinine levels.
Among the patients receiving nicotine enemas, 14 out of 52 (27%) achieved clinical remission, as did 14 of the 43 patients (33%) in the control group. While patients tolerated the nicotine enemas well, the enemas were not found to be efficacious for active UC.
"Further placebo-controlled trials would be of interest with higher nicotine doses in which patients on prednisolone or thiopurines either are excluded or considered in subgroups," the authors conclude.
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