Withdrawal from repeated nicotine vapor exposure increases somatic signs of physical dependence, anxiety-like behavior, and brain reward thresholds in adult male rats.

Nicotine vapor consumption via electronic nicotine delivery systems has increased over the last decade. While prior work has shed light on the health effects of nicotine vapor inhalation, its unique effects on the brain and behavior have not been thoroughly explored. In this study we assessed markers of withdrawal following 14 days of nicotine vapor exposure.

Sex and diet-dependent gene alterations in human and rat brains with a history of nicotine exposure.

Introduction: Chronic nicotine exposure induces changes in the expression of key regulatory genes associated with metabolic function and neuronal alterations in the brain. Many bioregulatory genes have been associated with exposure to nicotine, but the modulating effects of sex and diet on gene expression in nicotine-exposed brains have been largely unexplored. Both humans and rodents display motivation for nicotine use and the emergence of withdrawal symptoms during abstinence.

Amino acid systems in the interpeduncular nucleus are altered in a sex-dependent manner during nicotine withdrawal.

Prior work in male rodents established that the medial habenula-interpeduncular nucleus (MHb-IPN) pathway modulates nicotine withdrawal. Specifically, withdrawal severity has been closely associated with inhibitory tone in the IPN via interneurons that release γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Inhibitory tone in the IPN is regulated by projections from the MHb that co-release glutamate and acetylcholine.

Insulin restores the neurochemical effects of nicotine in the mesolimbic pathway of diabetic rats.

This study examined whether insulin modulates the neurochemical effects of nicotine in the mesolimbic pathway of diabetic rats. The rats received vehicle or streptozotocin (STZ) to induce hypoinsulinemia. A subset of STZ-treated rats was implanted with insulin pellets that rapidly normalized glucose levels.

Estradiol promotes and progesterone reduces anxiety-like behavior produced by nicotine withdrawal in female rats.

This study assessed sex differences and the role of ovarian hormones in nicotine withdrawal. Study 1 compared physical signs, anxiety-like behavior, and corticosterone levels in male, intact female, and ovariectomized (OVX) female rats during nicotine withdrawal. Estradiol (E2) and progesterone levels were also assessed in intact females that were tested during different phases of the 4-day estrous cycle.

Amino acid modulation of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens mediates sex differences in nicotine withdrawal.

The aversive effect of nicotine withdrawal is greater in female versus male rats, and we postulate that this sex difference is mediated in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Nicotine withdrawal induces decreases in NAc dopamine and increases in acetylcholine (ACh) levels in male rats. To our knowledge, these neurochemical markers of nicotine withdrawal have not been compared in female versus male rats.

Both nicotine reward and withdrawal are enhanced in a rodent model of diabetes.

Rationale: It is presently unclear whether diabetic rats experience greater rewarding effects of nicotine and/or negative affective states produced by nicotine withdrawal.

Objective: The present study utilized a rodent model of diabetes to examine the rewarding effects of nicotine and negative affective states and physical signs produced by withdrawal.

Methods: Separate groups of rats received systemic administration of either vehicle or streptozotocin (STZ), which destroys insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas and elevates glucose levels.

High-fat diet meal patterns during and after continuous nicotine treatment in male rats.

Smoking to control body weight is an obstacle to smoking cessation, particularly in western cultures where diets are often rich in calories derived from fat sources. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of continuous nicotine administration on meal patterns in rats fed a high-fat diet. Male rats were housed in cages designed to continuously monitor food intake and implanted with minipumps to deliver approximately 1.

Nicotine withdrawal increases stress-associated genes in the nucleus accumbens of female rats in a hormone-dependent manner.

Introduction: Previous work led to our hypothesis that sex differences produced by nicotine withdrawal are modulated by stress and dopamine systems in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc). We investigated our hypothesis by studying intact females to determine whether the mechanisms that promote withdrawal are ovarian-hormone mediated.

Methods: Female rats were ovariectomized (OVX) or received sham surgery (intact) on postnatal day (PND 45-46).

Cholinergic transmission during nicotine withdrawal is influenced by age and pre-exposure to nicotine: implications for teenage smoking.

Adolescence is a unique period of development characterized by enhanced tobacco use and long-term vulnerability to neurochemical changes produced by adolescent nicotine exposure. In order to understand the underlying mechanisms that contribute to developmental differences in tobacco use, this study compared changes in cholinergic transmission during nicotine exposure and withdrawal in naïve adult rats compared to (1) adolescent rats and (2) adult rats that were pre-exposed to nicotine during adolescence. The first study compared extracellular levels of acetylcholine (ACh) in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) during nicotine exposure and precipitated withdrawal using microdialysis procedures.

Behavioral, Biochemical, and Molecular Indices of Stress are Enhanced in Female Versus Male Rats Experiencing Nicotine Withdrawal.

Stress is a major factor that promotes tobacco use and relapse during withdrawal. Although women are more vulnerable to tobacco use than men, the manner in which stress contributes to tobacco use in women versus men is unclear. Thus, the goal of this study was to compare behavioral and biological indices of stress in male and female rats during nicotine withdrawal.

Health-related conditions and depression in elderly mexican american and non-Hispanic white residents of a United States-Mexico border county: moderating effects of educational attainment.

We investigated the prevalence of "high" levels of depressive symptomatology and 13 health-related medical conditions in elderly Mexican American (MA) and non-Hispanic white (NHW) residents of El Paso County, Texas. We analyzed the extent to which depressive symptoms in this population are associated with these conditions. Elderly MA residents possessed a higher prevalence of current depression, a relatively unique health-related condition profile, and were more likely to experience a set of conditions that impede participation in daily life-conditions that we found to be strongly associated with high depressive symptomatology in the elderly.

Negative affect heightens opiate withdrawal-induced hyperalgesia in heroin dependent individuals.

This study examined the effect of emotion on opiate withdrawal induced hyperalgesia to determine whether emotional states modulate the magnitude of hyperalgesia. One hundred Hispanic men were recruited into one of three groups: heroin withdrawal, long-term heroin abstinence, and control. Participants were presented with pictures to induce neutral, positive, and negative emotional states.

Chronic restraint stress during early Theiler's virus infection exacerbates the subsequent demyelinating disease in SJL mice: II. CNS disease severity.

Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) infection is a well-characterized model of multiple sclerosis (MS). Previous research has shown that chronic restraint stress (RS) during early TMEV infection exacerbates behavioral signs of the disease. The present data suggest that RS-induced increases in CNS inflammation, demyelination, and axonal degeneration may underlie this exacerbation.

Spinal glia modulate both adaptive and pathological processes.

Recent research indicates that glial cells control complex functions within the nervous system. For example, it has been shown that glial cells contribute to the development of pathological pain, the process of long-term potentiation, and the formation of memories. These data suggest that glial cell activation exerts both adaptive and pathological effects within the CNS.

In utero methanesulfonyl fluoride differentially affects learning and maze performance in the absence of long-lasting cholinergic changes in the adult rat.

There is increasing evidence that acetylcholinesterase (AChE) may have various specific developmental roles in brain development. Nevertheless, specific effects of AChE inhibition during early brain development have not been adequately described. Therefore, methanesulfonyl fluoride (MSF), an irreversible AChE inhibitor that shows high selectivity for the CNS was used to produce AChE inhibition in utero to study subsequent adult behaviors, sleep, and cholinergic markers.