Nicotine exerts its reinforcing actions via activating the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). In tobacco smoking, exposure to the environmental stimuli (cues) previously conditioned to nicotine reinforcement critically contributes to the high relapse rates in abstinent smokers. Research including findings from our own laboratory has suggested critical and differential roles of the two major nAChR subtypes, the α4 β2- and α7-containing receptors that accounts for about 95% of the whole nAChR population in brain, in the process of tobacco smoking addiction development and cue-triggered relapse after a period of abstinence. In specific, our laboratory studies using rat models of smoking and relapse demonstrated that antagonism of the α4 β2 but not α7 subtype effectively reduced on-going nicotine self-administration, indicating attenuation of nicotine reinforcement, whereas, blockade of the α7 but not α4 β2 subtype prevented cue-induced relapse to nicotine-seeking behavior in abstinent subjects. These research observations provide support for the continued effort to test cholinergic agents aiming at the α4 β2 nAChRs for reducing or stopping smoking. However, this work suggests that, in order to prevent smoking relapse in abstinent smokers triggered by exposure to environmental cues, targeting at the α7 nAChRs’ activity would be a promising strategy.
Author(s) Details:
Xiu Liu,
Department
of Pathology, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS-39216, USA.
Please see the link here: https://stm.bookpi.org/ANUMS-V2/article/view/13119
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