By Staff Writer (media@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Aug 10, 2015 06:00 AM EDT

Scientists are reportedly developing a new kind of anti-smoking drug based on a bacteria that eats nicotine before it reaches the brain. Hopefully, the new therapy will help more people quit smoking successfully.

The research was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. According to scientists from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in La Jolla, California, reported how the bacterial enzyme can be created inside a laboratory and possesses several features that make it a potential anti-smoking drug. The research team has been trying to create the special enzyme for over 30 years.

“Our research is in the early phase of drug development process, but the study tells us the enzyme has the right properties to eventually become a successful therapeutic,” said Kim Janda, senior author and professor of chemistry.

Medical News Today reported that the scientists only achieved the results they wanted when they resorted to nature. They found a bacterium, Pseudomonas putida, isolated from the soil of a tobacco field that eats nicotine as its only source of nitrogen and carbon. The bacterium relies on an enzyme known as NicA2 to aid it in consuming nicotine.

The researchers combined serum from mice with a nicotine amount equal to one cigarette. After, they added the enzyme. They found that normally, it would take two to three hours for the nicotine level to halve, but with the added enzyme, the level halved in only nine to 15 minutes. Janda stated that they can make more chemical modifications that would allow the enzyme to reduce the half-life of nicotine in the bloodstream quickly so that it would no longer reach the brain. Furthermore, the team discovered that the bacterial enzyme was a potential drug candidate, remaining stable inside the lab and presenting no detectable toxic byproducts after it halved the nicotine. The enzyme was generally stable in serum.

With the new bacterial enzyme, therapeutic sessions would involve locating and destroying nicotine before it reaches the brain. The effect will prevent the “reward” kick provided by nicotine that leads to smoking addiction. One feature of the enzyme is that it significantly reduces the time that nicotine lasts in the bloodstream. The new enzyme therapy will help smokers quit the unhealthy habit better, considering how 80% to 90% who try fail.

"Hopefully we can improve its serum stability with our future studies so that a single injection may last up to a month,” the researchers said in the same report by Medical News Today.

© 2015 Latinos Post. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.