CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 426Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorNicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors StudySmoking Behavior and Cessation

The effects of acute and repeated nicotine treatment on nucleus accumbens dopamine and locomotor activity

Open access
Benwell, Maureen E.M., Balfour, David J.K.·1992·British Journal of Pharmacology
DOI 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1992.tb09067.xPMC PMC1908718
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

The effects of acute and subchronic nicotine and (+)‐amphetamine on the extracellular levels of dopamine and its metabolites, dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and homovanillic acid (HVA) in nucleus accumbens (NAc) have been studied in conscious, freely‐moving rats by use of in vivo microdialysis. In rats which had been habituated to the test apparatus for approximately 80 min, the acute subcutaneous (s.c.) administration of nicotine (0.1 or 0.4 mg kg−1) caused a dose‐dependent increase (P < 0.01) in spontaneous activity and evoked significant increases (P < 0.05) in the extracellular levels of DOPAC and HVA. Measurements made 24 h after the last injection of nicotine showed that pretreatment with the higher doses tested (0.4 mg kg−1) resulted in increased basal levels of dopamine (P < 0.01) and decreased basal levels of DOPAC (P < 0.05) in the NAc dialysates. Pretreatment with nicotine (0.1 or 0.4 mg kg−1 daily for 5 days) enhanced the effects of the drug on spontaneous locomotor activity and enhanced the effects of the drug on extracellular levels of dopamine to the extent that the response became significant (P < 0.05). If a dopamine uptake inhibitor, nomifensine, was added to the Ringer solution used to dialyse the probe, the s.c. administration of both acute and subchronic nicotine (0.4 mg kg−1) resulted in significant increases (P < 0.05) in the dopamine concentration in the dialysate. Under these conditions, pretreatment with nicotine prior to the test day prolonged (P < 0.05) the dopamine response to a challenge dose of nicotine. Subcutaneous injections of (+)‐amphetamine (0.2 or 0.5 mg kg−1) evoked dose‐dependent increases in both spontaneous activity and the concentration of dopamine in NAc dialysates. These responses were unaffected by 5 days pretreatment with the drug. The results of this study support the conclusion that the enhanced locomotor response to nicotine observed in animals pretreated with the drug prior to the test day is associated with potentiation of its effects on dopamine secretion in the NAc.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1992.tb09067.x

Cites

36 of 36 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Nicotine-mediated neurotransmitter release can occur after acute nicotine exposure that activates nAChRs and after chronic nicotine exposure that desensitizes nAChRs.

    “For instance, nicotine-mediated neurotransmitter release can occur after acute nicotine exposure that activates nAChRs and after chronic nicotine exposure that desensitizes nAChRs (Benwell and Balfour, 1992; Iyaniwura et al., 2001).”

    From It is not “either/or”: Activation and desensitization of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors both contribute to behaviors related to nicotine addiction and mood (2008) · cites this paper as Benwell and Balfour, 1992

    The Results and Discussion (pages not available in our copy) report increased nucleus accumbens dopamine after repeated nicotine treatment and infer dopamine release after acute treatment, although the acute increase in extracellular dopamine was not statistically significant without an uptake inhibitor. They do not establish that acute exposure activates nAChRs or that chronic exposure desensitizes them; those receptor mechanisms are not supported by this paper. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Repeated nicotine administration leads to increased release of dopamine that persists and shows a sensitized response despite nAChR desensitization.

    “As mentioned earlier, repeated nicotine administration leads to increased release of dopamine that persists, and indeed shows a sensitized response (increased dopamine (DA) release in response to challenge with the same nicotine dose), despite any nAChR desensitization that is likely to have occurred (Benwell and Balfour, 1992; Iyaniwura et al., 2001).”

    From It is not “either/or”: Activation and desensitization of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors both contribute to behaviors related to nicotine addiction and mood (2008) · cites this paper as Benwell and Balfour, 1992

    The Results (‘The effect of acute and subchronic nicotine’; page unavailable) report elevated basal nucleus accumbens dopamine 27 hours after the last nicotine injection, and the Discussion reports an enhanced dopamine response to a nicotine challenge after pretreatment. The Discussion concludes that the dopamine system may become sensitized. Our copy does not establish that nAChRs had desensitized, so the ‘despite desensitization’ part is unsupported by this paper. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Both nicotine and cotinine have been shown to facilitate dopamine release.

    “both nicotine59 and cotinine60 have been shown to facilitate dopamine release”

    From β2-Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Availability During Acute and Prolonged Abstinence From Tobacco Smoking (2009) · cites this paper as [59]

  • Prolonged partial occupancy of the receptor by nicotine or cotinine may contribute to the feelings of craving reported 2 h after the last cigarette and throughout the first week of abstinence.

    “Dopamine release has been associated with the feeling of craving58, and both nicotine59 and cotinine60 have been shown to facilitate dopamine release, thus the prolonged partial occupancy of the receptor by nicotine or cotinine, may contribute to the feelings of craving that are reported 2 h after the last cigarette and throughout the first week of abstinence.”

    From β2-Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Availability During Acute and Prolonged Abstinence From Tobacco Smoking (2009) · cites this paper as [59]

  • Sensitization caused by repeated drug use has been observed with many drugs of abuse, including alcohol and nicotine.

    “Sensitization caused by repeated drug use has been observed with many drugs of abuse, including alcohol and nicotine (Benwell & Balfour, 1992; Cadoni & Di Chiara, 2000; Govind, Vezina, & Green, 2009; Laviolette & van der Kooy, 2004).”

    From Cued for Risk: Evidence for an Incentive Sensitization Framework to Explain the Interplay between Stress and Anxiety, Substance Abuse, and Reward Uncertainty in Disordered Gambling Behavior (2019) · cites this paper as Benwell & Balfour, 1992

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Balfour, D.J.K. pp. 453-481. London, Oxford: Pergamon press.
  2. Iversen, L.L., Iversen, S.D. & Snyder, S.H. Vol. 12, pp. 1-37. New York: Plenum.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Benwell, M. E. M., & Balfour, D. J. K.
Affiliations
University of Dundee (GB)
ORCID
Balfour, David J.K.
Venue
British Journal of Pharmacology
Publisher
Wiley
Published
1992-04
Volume
105
Issue
4
Pages
849-856
ISSN
  • 0007-1188 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-5381
DOI
10.1111/j.1476-5381.1992.tb09067.x
PMC
PMC1908718
OpenAlex
W1999762185
Cited by
426
References
36
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 13
FWCI
3.80
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor, 7414 d)
Locations
  • British Journal of Pharmacology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors Study
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Smoking Behavior and Cessation
Keywords
nicotine, nucleus accumbens, dopamine, locomotor activity, amphetamine, DOPAC, homovanillic acid, dopamine uptake inhibition, nomifensine, dopamine release, extracellular dopamine, rats, in vivo microdialysis, sensitization
MeSH terms
Animals, Dextroamphetamine, Dopamine, Homovanillic Acid, Male, Motor Activity, Nicotine, Nomifensine, Nucleus Accumbens, Rats, Inbred Strains, 3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic Acid, Rats

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review