Study of Nicotine Patches in Patients With Sarcoidosis

Until recently, there was no good explanation for the fact that smoking cigarettes actually reduces the risk of sarcoidosis. Research studies have shown that the nicotine, a common component of cigarette smoke, strongly suppresses the immune system and reduces the type of inflammation that is characteristic of sarcoidosis in the lungs. We propose that nicotine treatment, administered in the form of a skin patch, will reduce the severity of lung disease in patients with sarcoidosis. Sarcoidosis patients who volunteer to participate in this study will submit standardized questionnaires relating to their quality of life and the severity of their shortness of breath before and after treatment. We will also compare objective measures of lung function, radiographic parameters, and the severity of lung inflammation. We predict that nicotine treatment will reduce the severity of sarcoidosis symptoms, improve lung function, and resolve lung inflammation. If our hypothesis is proven to be correct in this relatively small group of patients, we will perform additional studies in a larger group of patients and will consider the features of sarcoidosis patients that predict a favorable response to nicotine and other nicotine-like drugs. If nicotine is ultimately found to be an effective treatment for sarcoidosis, it may replace some of the existing treatments which are frequently ineffective and have unacceptable side-effects.

Inclusion criteria

• • Symptomatic (active) granulomatous lung disease (radiographic stage II or III disease) at least 6 months after the diagnosis. This selects patients that have the chronically active variant of sarcoidosis and will likely require long-term treatment (33).

Exclusion criteria

• • Active smokers,

• Previous splenectomy,
• Those requiring high-dose immunosuppression [i.e., ≥ 0.2 mg/kg/day prednisone (or equivalent) or > 10 mg/week methotrexate or requires second line cytolytic agents (e.g., cyclophosphamide, azathioprine) or anti-TNF treatments (e.g., thalidomide, anti-TNF antibodies, etc.)] to control disease activity.
• We will also exclude patients at high risk of complications relating to the use of nicotine. This will include patients with a known intolerance of nicotine or those with active cardiac or central nervous system disease who are at higher risk of cardiac arrhythmias or seizures.
• We will also exclude patients with extensive pulmonary fibrosis based upon lung biopsy or high resolution CT scan criterion