The great majority of tobacco addiction begins during adolescence, but very little is known about the neurobehavioral effects of nicotine in adolescents compared to adults. Adolescents are still undergoing important neurodevelopmental changes on the path to adulthood. Nicotine exposure in adolescence may have lasting impacts on this late neurodevelopment. There are suggestions in the clinical literature that more heavily addicted smokers begin smoking earlier in adolescence, but the impact of nicotine self-administration during adolescence versus self-selection bias whereby people more prone to heavy addiction also begin earlier, cannot be ethically unconfounded in humans. This project is based on our hypothesis beginning nicotine self-administration during adolescence leads to greater nicotine intake and dependence than beginning in adulthood. Our preliminary data demonstrated in the rat model of nicotine self-administration that rats with adolescent-onset nicotine self-administration self-administer substantially higher total doses of nicotine than adult-onset rats, This higher rate of nicotine self-administration continues into adulthood with an approximate doubling of nicotine self-administration. ? ? The proposed experiments will determine the causal relationship between adolescent-onset nicotine self-administration and enhanced long-term nicotine self-administration with these Specific Aims. ? 1. Determine the pharmacokinetics and dose-effect functions of nicotine in adolescents and adult rats. ? 2. Determine the impact of nicotine replacement and nicotinic antagonist therapy on nicotine self-administration in adolescent-onset and adult-onset nicotine self-administration. ? 3. Determine the age threshold for the adult-like nicotine self-administration. ? 4. Determine if adolescent-onset nicotine self-administration enhances cocaine dependence. ? 5. Determine sex differences in adolescent-onset nicotine self-administration. Nicotine pharmacokinetic measurements in adolescent and adult rats will be used to determine the effect of altered distribution and metabolism versus pharmacodynamic factors in accounting for age-related differences in nicotine self-administration. ? ? Benefits of this research include a more relevant animal model of adolescent-onset smoking, improved understanding of how adolescent-onset nicotine use potentiates nicotine intake, a cause and effect determination of the gateway hypothesis of adolescent nicotine use leading to harder drugs and the development of better treatments for adolescent-onset nicotine dependence. ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
1R01DA015756-01A2
Application #
6777722
Study Section
Biobehavioral Regulation, Learning and Ethology Study Section (BRLE)
Program Officer
Wetherington, Cora Lee
Project Start
2004-04-01
Project End
2009-03-31
Budget Start
2004-04-01
Budget End
2005-03-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2004
Total Cost
$221,280
Indirect Cost
Name
Duke University
Department
Psychiatry
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
044387793
City
Durham
State
NC
Country
United States
Zip Code
27705
Levin, Edward D; Slade, Susan; Wells, Corinne et al. (2011) Threshold of adulthood for the onset of nicotine self-administration in male and female rats. Behav Brain Res 225:473-81
Levin, Edward D; Petro, Ann; Rezvani, Amir H et al. (2009) Nicotinic alpha7- or beta2-containing receptor knockout: effects on radial-arm maze learning and long-term nicotine consumption in mice. Behav Brain Res 196:207-13
Levin, Edward D; Slade, Susan; Johnson, Michael et al. (2008) Ketanserin, a 5-HT2 receptor antagonist, decreases nicotine self-administration in rats. Eur J Pharmacol 600:93-7
Rezvani, A H; Eddins, D; Slade, S et al. (2008) Neonatal 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of the frontal cortex in rats: persisting effects on locomotor activity, learning and nicotine self-administration. Neuroscience 154:885-97
Levin, Edward D; Lawrence, Susan Slade; Petro, Ann et al. (2007) Adolescent vs. adult-onset nicotine self-administration in male rats: duration of effect and differential nicotinic receptor correlates. Neurotoxicol Teratol 29:458-65
Levin, Edward D; Lawrence, Susan; Petro, Ann et al. (2006) Increased nicotine self-administration following prenatal exposure in female rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 85:669-74
Levin, Edward D; McClernon, F Joseph; Rezvani, Amir H (2006) Nicotinic effects on cognitive function: behavioral characterization, pharmacological specification, and anatomic localization. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 184:523-39
Barron, Susan; White, Aaron; Swartzwelder, H Scott et al. (2005) Adolescent vulnerabilities to chronic alcohol or nicotine exposure: findings from rodent models. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 29:1720-5