Overall, our findings indicate that gene variants in CHRNA5-A3-B4 affect smoking abstinence in African Americans during the pharmacological treatment phase, but not during follow-up, even after adjusting for baseline smoking behaviors. Greater smoking abstinence was observed with active pharmacological treatments in those with the rs2036527[G/G] genotype while those with a rs2036527[A] allele had cessation rates no greater than the placebo treatment and may require alternative approaches to treatment. Further studies should focus on understanding the mechanism(s) underlying this association in order to optimize the efficacy of smoking cessation treatments.
