TABLE 1

Nicotine absorption pharmacokinetics of different forms of nicotine administration in single doses

Type of Nicotine AdministrationaCmax b Tmaxb,c Bioavailability References
ng/ml min %
Smoking (one cigarette, 5 min) 15–30 (venous) 5–8 (venous) 80–90 (of inhaled nicotine) Armitage et al., 1975; Russell et al., 1983; Benowitz et al., 1988; Henningfield et al., 1993; Rose et al., 1999; Lunell et al., 2000
(∼2 mg/cigaretted) 20–60 (arterial) 3–5 (arterial)
Intravenous ∼5.1 mg (60 μg/kg, 30 min) 30 (venous) 30 (venous) 100 Gourlay and Benowitz, 1997
50 (arterial) 30 (arterial)
Nasal spray 1 mg 5–8 (venous) 11–18 (venous) 60–80 Johansson et al., 1991; Gourlay and Benowitz, 1997; Guthrie et al., 1999
10–15 (arterial) 4–6 (arterial)
Gum (30 min, total dose in gum) Russell et al., 1980b, 1983
   2 mg 6–9 30 78 Benowitz et al., 1988
   4 mg 10–17 30 55 Stevens, 1994
Inhaler 4 mg released (one 10 mg cartridge, 20 min) 8.1 30 51–56 Molander et al., 1996; Schneider et al., 2001
Lozenge (20–30 min) Choi et al., 2003
   2 mg 4.4 60 50
   4 mg 10.8 66 79
Sublingual tablet 2 mg (20–30 min) 3.8 ∼60 65 Molander and Lunell, 2001
Tooth patch 2 mg ∼3.2 ∼120 Slamowitz et al., 2000
Transdermal patch (labeled dose) Benowitz et al., 1991a, 1992
   15 mg/16 h (Nicotrol) 11–14 6–9 h 75–100 Gupta et al., 1993b
   14 mg/24 h (Nicoderm) 11–16 4–7 h Gupta et al., 1993a
   21 mg/24 h (Nicoderm) 18–23 3–7 h 68 Prather et al., 1993
   21 mg/24 h (Habitrol) 12–21 9–12 h 82 Gupta et al., 1995; Benowitz et al., 1997; Fant et al., 2000
Subcutaneous injection 2.4 mg 15 25 100 Le Houezec et al., 1993
Oral capsule 3–4 mg 6–8 90 44 Benowitz et al., 1991b
Oral slow-release capsule (colonic absorption) 2.2 7.5 h Green et al., 1999
   6 mg
Oral solution
   2 mg 4.7 51 Dempsey et al., 2004
   ∼3.0 mg (45 μg/kg) 2.9 66 20 Zins et al., 1997
Enema Zins et al., 1997
   ∼3.5 mg (45 μg/kg) 2.3–3.1 20–80 15–25 Green et al., 1997
   6 mg 6–9 45 Green et al., 1998

  • ↵ a Products in bold are currently marketed in the United States

  • ↵ b Cmax and Tmax values are for peripheral venous blood unless otherwise indicated

  • ↵ c Tmax values are measured from the start of the administration

  • ↵ d Estimated dose of 2 mg of nicotine per cigarette is higher than the usual 1 to 1.5 mg per cigarette since nicotine absorption from smoking a single cigarette was studied after at least overnight abstinence from smoking in these studies