Effects of chronic nicotine treatment on the accumulation of [3H]tetraphenylphosphonium by cerebral cortical synaptosomes

Nicotine's effect on cognition, a friend or foe?

Tobacco smoking is a preventable cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Smoking comes in form of absorption of many compounds, among which nicotine is the main psychoactive component of tobacco and its positive and negative reinforcement effects are proposed to be the key mechanism for the initiation and maintenance of smoking. Growing evidence suggests that the cognitive enhancement effects of nicotine may also contribute to the difficulty of quitting smoking, especially in individuals with psychiatric disorders. In this review, we first introduce the beneficial effect of nicotine on cognition including attention, short-term memory and long-term memory. We next summarize the beneficial effect of nicotine on cognition under pathological conditions, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Schizophrenia, Stress-induced Anxiety, Depression, and drug-induced memory impairment. The possible mechanism underlying nicotine's effect is also explored. Finally, nicotine's detrimental effect on cognition is discussed, including in the prenatal and adolescent periods, and high-dose nicotine- and withdrawal-induced memory impairment is emphasized. Therefore, nicotine serves as both a friend and foe. Nicotine-derived compounds could be a promising strategy to alleviate neurological disease-associated cognitive deficit, however, due to nicotine's detrimental effect, continued educational programs and public awareness campaigns are needed to reduce tobacco use among pregnant women and smoking should be quitted even if it is e-cigarette, especially for the adolescents.

The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor: smoking and Alzheimer's disease revisited

Epidemiological studies regarding Alzheimer's disease (AD) in smokers currently suggest inconsistent results. The clinicopathological findings also vary as to how AD pathology is affected by smoking behavior. Even though clinicopathological, functional, and epidemiological studies in humans do not present a consistent picture, much of the in vitro data implies that nicotine has neuroprotective effects when used in neurodegenerative disorder models. Current studies of the effects of nicotine and nicotinic agonists on cognitive function in both the non-demented and those with AD are not convincing. More data is needed to determine whether repetitive activation of nAChR with intermittent or acute exposure to nicotine, acute activation of nAChR, or long-lasting inactivation of nAChR secondary to chronic nicotine exposure will have a therapeutic effect and/or explain the beneficial effects of those types of drugs. Other studies show multifaceted connections between nicotine, nicotinic agonists, smoking, and nAChRs implicated in AD etiology. Although many controversies still exist, ongoing studies are revealing how nicotinic receptor changes and functions may be significant to the neurochemical, pathological, and clinical changes that appear in AD.

Upregulation of [3H]methyllycaconitine binding sites following continuous infusion of nicotine, without changes of alpha7 or alpha6 subunit mRNA: an autoradiography and in situ hybridization study in rat brain

It is well established that exposure of experimental animals to nicotine results in upregulation of the alpha4beta2-subtype of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). The aim of this study was to determine the effect of nicotine on the levels of alpha7-nAChRs in rat brain, for which only partial information is available. Rats were infused with nicotine (3 mg/kg/day) or saline for 2 weeks and their brains processed for receptor autoradiography with [3H]methyllycaconitine (MLA), a radioligand with nanomolar affinity for alpha7-nAChRs. In control rats binding was high in hippocampus, intermediate in cerebral cortex and hypothalamus, and low in striatum, thalamus and cerebellum. There was high correlation between the distribution of [3H]MLA binding sites and alpha7 subunit mRNA (r = 0.816). With respect to saline-treated controls, nicotine-treated rats presented higher [3H]nicotine binding in 11 out of 15 brain regions analysed (average increase 46 +/- 6%). In contrast, only four regions showed greater [3H]MLA binding, among which the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and cingulate cortex (mean increase 32 +/- 3%). No changes in alpha7 mRNA levels were observed after nicotine treatment. Similarly, there was no variation of alpha6 subunit transcript in the VTA, a region which may contain MLA-sensitive (non-alpha7)-alpha6*-nAChRs (Klink et al., 2001). In conclusion, nicotine increased [3H]MLA binding, although to a smaller extent and in a more restricted regional pattern than [3H]nicotine. The enhancement of binding was not paralleled by a significant change of alpha7 and alpha6 subunit transcription. Finally, the present results provide the first anatomical description of the distribution of [3H]MLA binding sites in rat brain.

Cellular distribution in the rat telencephalon of mRNAs encoding for the alpha 3 and alpha 4 subunits of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor

Pharmacological and electrophysiological studies provide evidence for the involvement of different nicotinic acetylcholine receptor isoforms in rat neocortical and hippocampal signal transduction. Yet, rather little is known on the cellular localization of these isoforms. With the availability of isoform specific nucleic acid probes and sensitive non-isotopic detection systems, nicotinic receptors can be studied on the mRNA level in individual neurons. In this way, we have paradigmatically studied the distribution of the alpha 3 and alpha 4 isoform mRNAs of the nicotinic receptor in the rat telencephalon. In the cerebral cortex, alpha 3 transcripts were mainly located in pyramidal neurons of layers V and VI and in some non-pyramidal cells in layer IV, while alpha 4 mRNA was detected in different types of neurons located in almost all layers. In the hippocampus, local distribution of both transcripts was comparable. Only very few labeled neurons were observed in the dentate gyrus. In the CA region, the specific mRNAs were detected in pyramidal perikarya and individual neurons in the strata oriens and lacunosum-moleculare. Our data show that the applied method is sufficiently sensitive and isoform-selective in order to study the differential expression of nicotinic receptors on the cellular level in the mammalian brain.

Cellular distribution of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit mRNAs in the human cerebral cortex as revealed by non-isotopic in situ hybridization

The pharmacology of telencephalic nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) has become an important issue in recent years. While in the human brain a direct pharmacological assessment is difficult to achieve the visualization of nAChRs has been enabled by histochemical techniques providing an ever increasing and improving resolution. Receptor autoradiography was used to visualize binding sites on the level of cortical layers whereas immunohistochemistry has allowed for the cell type-specific and ultrastructural localization of receptor protein. Further investigations have to elucidate the cellular sites of NAChR biosynthesis by visualizing subunit-specific transcripts. Using autopsy samples of the human precentral cortex (Area 4) as a paradigm we have applied digoxigenin-labeled cRNA probes to localize transcripts for the alpha 3- and alpha 4-1-subunits of the nAChR. In accordance with findings in the monkey cortex, the alpha 3-subunit seems to be expressed mainly in pyramidal neurons of layers III-VI of the human cerebral cortex. Transcripts for the alpha 4-1-subunit, by contrast, appear to be present in a large number of neurons throughout all layers of the cerebral cortex, consonant with its ubiquitous distribution in the rodent brain. The present findings show that also in human autopsy brains the cell type-specific detection of nAChR transcripts is possible. For the future, this technique will enable to investigate the expression of receptor transcripts in diseased human brains as compared to controls.

A nicotinic agonist (GTS-21), eyeblink classical conditioning, and nicotinic receptor binding in rabbit brain

The septo-hippocampal cholinergic system is of demonstrated involvement in eyeblink classical conditioning (EBCC). To determine if a nicotinic cholinergic agonist, GTS-21, would facilitate acquisition of EBCC in older rabbits, three doses (0.1, 0.5, 1.0 mg/kg) in sterile saline vehicle and vehicle alone were administered to older rabbits (n = 48; mean age = 29.8 months). A control group of vehicle-treated young rabbits (n = 12; mean age = 3.5 months) was included. Rabbits were conditioned for fifteen 90-trial sessions in the 750 ms delay paradigm with a tone conditioned stimulus and corneal airpuff unconditioned stimulus. Dependent measures of trials to learning criterion, percentage of conditioned responses (CRs) and CR amplitude consistently showed significant improvement in older rabbits treated with 0.5 and 1.0 mg/kg of GTS-21. Acquisition was similar in vehicle-treated young and GTS-treated older rabbits. Vehicle-treated older rabbits conditioned more poorly than vehicle-treated young rabbits. No non-associative learning effects were observed in GTS-21 treated animals. Nicotinic receptor binding was similar in all groups of older rabbits, indicating that GTS-21 administration over a 15-day period did not affect nicotinic receptors. Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been associated with significant loss of nicotinic cholinergic receptors, and patients diagnosed with probable AD are seriously impaired on EBCC. These results demonstrating that the nicotinic agonist, GTS-21, facilitated EBCC in older rabbits suggest that the compound should receive additional investigation for its potential to affect cognition in AD.

Effects of chronic nerve growth factor treatment on hippocampal [3H]cytisine/nicotinic binding sites and presynaptic nicotinic receptor function following fimbrial transections

Recent studies with nerve growth factor (NGF) have identified the pharmacological actions of this neurotrophin in a variety of animal models that mimic some of the neurotransmitter deficits that occur in Alzheimer's disease (AD, for reviews see Refs 7, 15, 17, 19). Based upon extensive pharmacological studies, NGF has been characterized as a crucial maintenance factor for adult cholinergic neurons of the septo-hippocampal and basalo-cortical pathways. Among the reported actions of NGF is an attenuation of lesion-induced decrements in presynaptic and postsynaptic cholinergic markers and functions in the hippocampal formation. Thus, in studies that used partial fimbriectomies to parallel the cholinergic neurodegeneration that occurs in AD, intraventricularly administered nerve growth factor prevented the loss of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and acetylcholinesterase immunoreactivity in the septum and increased a variety of presynaptic cholinergic markers involved in the synthesis, storage and release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (for reviews see Refs 7, 17, 19). More specifically, chronic NGF treatment attenuates lesion-induced reductions in hippocampal ChAT activity and high-affinity choline uptake, the end-result of which is an enhanced capacity to synthesize acetylcholine. This increased acetylcholine synthesis, in turn, appears to translate directly into augmented vesicular storage and release of the neurotransmitter. For instance, not only does NGF treatment reverse lesion-induced reductions in maximal binding densities of the acetylcholine vesicular transport marker [3H]vesamicol, but it also enhances acetylcholine release and turnover rate. NGF treatment also appears to restore the sensitivity of postsynaptic muscarinic receptors to agonist-induced stimulation following partial fimbriectomies.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Chronic caffeine alters the density of adenosine, adrenergic, cholinergic, GABA, and serotonin receptors and calcium channels in mouse brain

1. Chronic ingestion of caffeine by male NIH strain mice alters the density of a variety of central receptors. 2. The density of cortical A1 adenosine receptors is increased by 20%, while the density of striatal A2A adenosine receptors is unaltered. 3. The densities of cortical beta 1 and cerebellar beta 2 adrenergic receptors are reduced by ca. 25%, while the densities of cortical alpha 1 and alpha 2 adrenergic receptors are not significantly altered. Densities of striatal D1 and D2 dopaminergic receptors are unaltered. The densities of cortical 5 HT1 and 5 HT2 serotonergic receptors are increased by 26-30%. Densities of cortical muscarinic and nicotinic receptors are increased by 40-50%. The density of cortical benzodiazepine-binding sites associated with GABAA receptors is increased by 65%, and the affinity appears slightly decreased. The density of cortical MK-801 sites associated with NMDA-glutaminergic receptors appear unaltered. 4. The density of cortical nitrendipine-binding sites associated with calcium channels is increased by 18%. 5. The results indicate that chronic ingestion of caffeine equivalent to about 100 mg/kg/day in mice causes a wide range of biochemical alterations in the central nervous system.