Bupropión: una alternativa farmacológica en cesación tabáquica

Abstract

There are many reasons for the use of antidepressants in smoking cessation: 1) lack of nicotine can produce depressive symptoms or precipitate a severe depressive episode; 2) nicotine may have antidepressant effects that maintain addiction; 3) some antidepressants have an action on neural pathways or receptors involved in nicotine addiction; and 4) some patients do not want to use other therapies or they have failed with them. Bupropion is first-line therapy for smoking cessation, with long-term effectiveness, serious side effects are rare. The evidence suggests bupropion is similar in effectiveness to nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), and less effective than varenicline, but more studies are needed to confirm this. Bupropion is safe in psychiatric patients compensated over a period of three months or more.