title: Olanzapine attenuates cue-elicited craving for tobacco.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent biological conceptualizations of craving and addiction have implicated mesolimbic dopamine activity as a central feature of the process of addiction. Imaging, and pharmacological studies have supported a role for dopaminergic structures in cue-elicited craving for tobacco.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  If mesolimbic dopamine activity is associated with cue-elicited craving for tobacco, a dopamine antagonist should attenuate cue-elicited craving for tobacco. Thus, the aim of the present study was to determine whether an atypical antipsychotic (olanzapine, 5 mg) decreased cue-elicited craving for tobacco.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were randomly assigned to 5 days of pretreatment with olanzapine (5 mg; n=31) or were randomly assigned to 5 days of a matching placebo (n=28). Approximately 8 h after the last dose, participants were exposed to a control cue (pencil) followed by exposure to smoking cues. Participants subsequently smoked either nicotine cigarettes or de-nicotinized cigarettes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Olanzapine attenuated cue-elicited craving for tobacco but did not moderate the subjective effects of smoking.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study represents one of the first investigations of the effect of atypical antipsychotics on cue-elicited craving for tobacco. The results suggest that medications with similar profiles may reduce cue-elicited craving, which in turn, may partially explain recent observations that atypical antipsychotics may reduce substance use.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Colorado, Campus Box 345, Boulder, CO, 80309-0345, USA. kenth@psych.colorado.edu
authors.forename: Kent E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Hutchison
authors.forename: Marie-Christine
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Rutter
authors.forename: Raymond
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Niaura
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Swift
authors.forename: Wallace B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Pickworth
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sobik
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001569:Benzodiazepines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002248:Carbon Monoxide / Q000378:metabolism; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D003463:Cues; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D008297:Male; D000077152:Olanzapine; D012907:Smoking / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D001569:Benzodiazepines; D002248:Carbon Monoxide; D000077152:Olanzapine