(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Researchers have uncovered information that may lead to a new medical treatment for nicotine addiction.

Cigarette smoking is one of the most widespread preventable causes of death and disease in developed countries. Annually, the habit is responsible for about 440,000 deaths and $160 billion in annual health-related costs nationwide.

The neuropeptide hypocretin-1 (Orexin A) may start a series of reactions in the body that maintains tobacco addiction in smokers. Targeting the chemical could offer a potential treatment for smoking cessation.

In rats, blocking hypocretin-1 receptors not only decreased their reliance on nicotine, it also eliminated the stimulatory effects nicotine had on the areas of the brain linked to rewards.

“This suggests that hypocretin-1 may play a major role in driving tobacco use in smokers to want more nicotine,” Paul Kenny, Ph.D., a research scientist at Scripps Florida, in Jupiter, Fla., was quoted as saying. “If we can find a way to effectively block this receptor, it could mean a novel way to help break people’s addiction to tobacco.”

Quitting smoking has proven to be a difficult task. Despite years of health warnings against tobacco, only 10 percent of smokers who attempt to quit stay smoke-free after one year.

SOURCE: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, published online November 24, 2008