October 30, 2002

1 min read

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Nicotine By-product 'Cooks' Body's Proteins

By Kate Wong

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In news that could give smokers yet another reason to kick the habit, researchers have found that a nicotine by-product known as nornicotine modifies the body's proteins in potentially harmful ways. The results of their study, published online yesterday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, indicate that the chemical may contribute to aging and to the development of a number of diseases.

Specifically, report Tobin J. Dickerson and Kim D. Janda of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., nornicotine appears to encourage good proteins to go bad by chemically "cooking" them. The modified proteins then interact with other chemicals in the body and can form troublesome compounds known as advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs). "These advanced glycation endproducts are not supposed to be [present in your body] naturally," Dickerson explains. "Your body is not prepared for them." Indeed, previous work has implicated AGEs in a variety of diseases, including diabetes, cancer and Alzheimer's.

Importantly, the team found that smokers had more nornicotine-modified proteins--and more AGEs--in their blood than nonsmokers did. The researchers also discovered that nornicotine reacts with the commonly prescribed steroids cortisone and prednisone, hinting that it could compromise drug safety and efficacy.

Kate Wong is an award-winning science writer and senior editor for features at Scientific American, where she has focused on evolution, ecology, anthropology, archaeology, paleontology and animal behavior. She is fascinated by human origins, which she has covered for nearly 30 years. Recently she has become obsessed with birds. Her reporting has taken her to caves in France and Croatia that Neandertals once called home to the shores of Kenya’s Lake Turkana in search of the oldest stone tools in the world, as well as to Madagascar on an expedition to unearth ancient mammals and dinosaurs, the icy waters of Antarctica, where humpback whales feast on krill, and a “Big Day” race around the state of Connecticut to find as many bird species as possible in 24 hours. Wong is co-author, with Donald Johanson, of Lucy’s Legacy: The Quest for Human Origins. She holds a bachelor of science degree in biological anthropology and zoology from the University of Michigan. Follow her on Bluesky @katewong.bsky.social

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