Nicotine’s Good Side: Substance curbs sepsis in mice

Small doses of nicotine can halt the progression of the often-fatal condition called sepsis, according to experiments in mice. The finding, coupled with tests of nicotine on cultured human cells, suggests a pathway to more-effective therapies for the infection-triggered problem.

Twice as many mice injected with nicotine survived at least 3 weeks after sepsis set in than did mice receiving inert injections.