Linked Life Data

9389479

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/9389479

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
6658
pubmed:dateCreated
1997-12-19
pubmed:abstractText
Tobacco use in developed countries is estimated to be the single largest cause of premature death. Nicotine is the primary component of tobacco that drives use, and like other addictive drugs, nicotine reinforces self-administration and place preference in animal studies. Midbrain dopamine neurons normally help to shape behaviour by reinforcing biologically rewarding events, but addictive drugs such as cocaine can inappropriately exert a reinforcing influence by acting upon the mesolimbic dopamine system. Here we show that the same concentration of nicotine achieved by smokers activates and desensitizes multiple nicotinic receptors thereby regulating the activity of mesolimbic dopamine neurons. Initial application of nicotine can increase the activity of the dopamine neurons, which could mediate the rewarding aspects of tobacco use. Prolonged exposure to even these low concentrations of nicotine, however, can cause desensitization of the nicotinic receptors, which helps to explain acute tolerance to nicotine's effects. The effects suggest a cellular basis for reports that the first cigarette of the day is the most pleasurable, whereas the effect of subsequent cigarettes may depend on the interplay between activation and desensitization of multiple nicotinic receptors.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Nov
pubmed:issn
0028-0836
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
27
pubmed:volume
390
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
401-4
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1997
pubmed:articleTitle
Nicotine activates and desensitizes midbrain dopamine neurons.
pubmed:affiliation
Division of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030-3498, USA.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, In Vitro, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S., Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't