Hypersensitivity to nicotine in a skin prick test

Gordievich T.G., Zakharova O.V., Fedorchuk O.N., Ishchenko O.V.

Vitebsk State Medical University, Vitebsk, Belarus
Vitebsk Regional Clinical Hospital, Vitebsk, Belarus

The aim of the study. To assess hypersensitivity to nicotine in patients with different smoking status by performing skin prick tests with standard nicotine solution. The study involved 26 volunteers, 10 (38,46%) men and 16 (61,54%) women. Among them, 9 (34,61%) smokers, 11 (43,31%) non-smokers and 6 (23,07%) patients with a history of smoking. The mean age of the participants was 34 years.

Materials and methods. The examination included spirometry with a MAS-2 spirograph, a test to detect skin dermographism, and skin prick tests with a standard nicotine solution from Sigma-Aldrich, followed by interpretation of results of the study. When setting up a skin prick test with a standard nicotine solution, patients with skin hypersensitivity to nicotine were identified. In the groups of non-smoking patients (n=11) and patients with a history of smoking (n=6), positive tests (++) with standard nicotine solution were detected in 1 person (9% and 16,6%, respectively) in each group. Positive test result (+) was observed in 1 non-smoking patient (9%) and 1 smoker with a history of smoking (16,6%). In the group of smokers (n=9), a positive result (+) was observed in 2 (22,2%) patients. In smokers, skin hyperreactivity to nicotine is less pronounced, apparently due to desensitization of nicotinic receptors and the development of tolerance, than in non-smokers and volunteers with a history of smoking.

Conclusions. When performing a skin prick test with a standard nicotine solution, 6 out of 26 apparently healthy volunteers revealed skin hypersensitivity to nicotine, which requires dynamic monitoring of these individuals to determine the role of hypersensitivity to nicotine as a risk factor for the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and bronchial asthma.