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The researchers, from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, examined the effect on platelet activity of switching smokers from a low-nicotine to a zero-nicotine cigarette. They found that platelet activation increased significantly more among smokers who switched to zero-nicotine cigarettes than among those who continued to smoke low-nicotine cheap cigarettes. In other words, nicotine did appear to suppress to some extent the platelet activating effect of cigarette smoking. Thus, the absence of nicotine led to higher levels of platelet activation, which would be expected to yield a more thrombotic state, and a higher cardiovascular disease risk. The researchers wrote: “With regard to platelet activation – a clear marker of cardiovascular risk – we conclude that these [zero-nicotine] cigarettes may be substantially more pro-thrombotic than nicotine-containing cigarettes. … Nicotine in tobacco smoke of low-nicotine cigarettes significantly protects platelets against activation by non-nicotine smoke components. Accordingly, the reduction or elimination of nicotine from cigarettes may render them more harmful.”