Nicotine
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist. Rapidly absorbed via lungs (smoking), buccal mucosa (pouches/gum), or skin (patches). Metabolized by CYP2A6 to cotinine (primary biomarker, ~16h half-life). Cotinine is used in clinical and forensic testing to assess tobacco/nicotine exposure.
Projected serum levels — 1 cigs/pouches (≈ 1 mg), as needed (shown daily)
Maintenance schedule: 1 cigs/pouches (≈ 1 mg) as needed (shown daily) (inhaled (cigarette)).
Modeled steady state after ~1 days: peak ≈ 0.48 mg, trough ≈ 0.000 mg body load. Population-based estimate over 15 days for a reference dose at a 70 kg reference body mass — the interactive app scales curves to your doses, timing, and body mass.
Key facts
- Category
- Stimulant
- Route modeled
- Inhaled (cigarette)
- Model confidence
- inferred
- Half-life
- 2 h
- Common dose
- 1 cigs/pouches (≈ 1 mg)
- Reference dose range
- 1–21 cigs/pouches (single dose)
- Suggested cadence
- as needed (shown daily)
Documented interactions
-
danger
Combined OC (Drospirenone / Ethinyl Estradiol) + Nicotine
Smoking while on combined OCs dramatically increases cardiovascular risk.
-
danger
Combined OC (Levonorgestrel / Ethinyl Estradiol) + Nicotine
Smoking while on combined OCs dramatically increases risk of blood clots, stroke, and heart attack. Risk increases with age (especially >35).
-
danger
Combined OC (Norgestimate / Ethinyl Estradiol) + Nicotine
Smoking while on combined OCs dramatically increases cardiovascular risk.
-
danger
Pseudoephedrine (Sudafed) + Nicotine
Nicotine inducer of CYP1A2 predicted to change Pseudoephedrine (Sudafed) AUC by ~0.50x
-
danger
Rasagiline (Azilect) + Nicotine
Nicotine inducer of CYP1A2 predicted to change Rasagiline (Azilect) AUC by ~0.50x
-
danger
Theacrine (TeaCrine) + Nicotine
Nicotine inducer of CYP1A2 predicted to change Theacrine (TeaCrine) AUC by ~0.50x
Serum checks 58 modeled interaction pairings for nicotine across your whole stack — absorption conflicts, enzyme inhibition, and nutrient depletion included.
Research behind this entry
-
Nicotine Chemistry, Metabolism, Kinetics and Biomarkers
Definitive review of nicotine pharmacokinetics: 2-hour elimination half-life, 70% hepatic metabolism to cotinine via CYP2A6, and cotinine half-life of 16 hours as primary biomarker.
-
CYP2A6 Genotype but Not Age Determines Cotinine Half-Life in Infants and Children
Established that CYP2A6 genetic polymorphism is the primary determinant of cotinine half-life variation (range 8-29 hours), with implications for secondhand smoke exposure assessment.
2 published studies referenced in the app, each with a plain-language summary.