Summary of COVID-19 nicotine studies

1. Labro et al., Nicotine patches in patients on mechanical ventilation for severe COVID-19: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre trial

218 patient nicotine late treatment RCT: 5% higher mortality (p=0.78) and 6% higher progression (p=1).
RCT 218 critically ill COVID-19 patients showing no benefit of transdermal nicotine patches. The trial tested a hypothesis that emerged early in the pandemic based on observations of lower COVID-19 rates among smokers, however alternative explanations such as nitric oxide generation in the respiratory tract may be more likely.
Jun 2022, Intensive Care Medicine, https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00134-022-06721-1, https://c19p.org/labro