2016 Volume 62 Issue 3 Pages 232-239
Objective: Previous studies investigating the link between nicotine and energy expenditure (EE) have shown a 6-10% increase in EE after nicotine intake using gum or spray, which increase blood level acutely. However, the effects of transdermal nicotine patches, which increase nicotine blood levels gradually, are still unknown. Thus, we studied the effects of nicotine patches on EE using human calorimeter.
Design: EE was measured over a 10-hour period with a human calorimeter using a crossover design to assess whether transdermal nicotine patches increase EE. Subjects were 8 adult, male non-smokers.
Interventions: All subjects followed the same schedule for measurement: enter the human calorimeter at 6:45 PM, sleep from 11:00 PM to 6:00 AM, and rest on a chair from 6:00 AM to 7:00 AM. EE and Respiratory quotient (RQ) were calculated from measurements from the human calorimeter.
Results: There were no significant differences in EE during the sleeping period between experimental and control conditions (Nicotine: 1.08±0.08 kcal/min, Control: 1.06±0.08 kcal/min; p=0.161). EE while sitting at rest 10 h after nicotine patch application was significantly increased by 0.07 kcal/min (5.8%) in the nicotine condition compared to the control condition (Nicotine: 1.22±0.10 kcal/min, Control: 1.15±0.12 kcal/min; p=0.035).
Conclusion: Results from this study indicate that EE may increase after transdermal nicotine patch exposure when blood nicotine levels have reached an estimated maximum.
