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The tobacco smoke constituent, norharmane enhances nicotine self‐administration in an age‐dependent manner
Author(s) -
Arnold Monica Martin,
Prenger Jacque A,
Belluzzi James D
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.23.1_supplement.588.14
Subject(s) - nicotine , cigarette smoke , smoke , medicine , tobacco smoke , smoking cessation , self administration , drug , pharmacology , cigarette smoking , physiology , anesthesia , psychiatry , environmental health , chemistry , pathology , organic chemistry
Smoking is the most preventable cause of death in the United States. Twenty‐one percent of U.S. adults consider themselves smokers with most beginning when they were teenagers. Although numerous smokers report the desire to stop, quit rates are low and current cessation aides are minimally effective. Animal models created to study smoking generally only use nicotine, the main psychoactive component of smoke; however experimental results do not reflect the addictiveness of cigarettes. This discrepancy may be because adult animals are used whereas initiation begins in adolescence, a critical time of brain development. Moreover, only nicotine is used despite that there are over 4000 constituents found in cigarette smoke. Therefore, the present study investigated how the age of acquisition and the tobacco constituent, norharmane, may influence nicotine self‐administration in adult and adolescent male rats. The co‐administration of nicotine (7.5 µg/kg/inj) and norharmane (0.1‐2.5 µg/kg/inj) at doses equivalent to what is found in the plasma of smokers after smoking one cigarette enhanced nicotine self‐administration in naïve adults compared to nicotine alone. Adolescents were insensitive to any of the drug combinations and responded minimally overall. Consequently, we have found that there is an age‐dependent sensitivity in responding for nicotine alone and in combination with norharmane. Sponsored by NIH DA 21267 & 19138.