Varenicline (trade names Chantix and Champix) is a smoking cessation medication. Varenicline is also used to treat dry eye disease.
- Nausea (feeling sick), insomnia (difficulty sleeping), abnormal dreams, headache, and nasopharyngitis are the most common side effects (inflammation of the nose and throat).
It is a high-affinity partial agonist for the 42 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subtype (nACh), which, when activated, causes the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the nucleus accumbens reward center of the brain and thus has the potential to reduce craving and withdrawal symptoms associated with smoking cessation. [8] It is similar to cytisine but distinct from the nicotinic antagonist bupropion and nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs) such as nicotine patches and nicotine gum. It is estimated that varenicline successfully helps one out of every eleven smokers stay tobacco-free after six months.
Varenicline is used to assist people in quitting smoking (smoking cessation). A meta-analysis discovered that less than 20% of people treated with varenicline remained smoke-free after one year. A 2009 meta-analysis found that varenicline was more effective than bupropion (odds ratio 1.40) and nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) (odds ratio 1.56).
