Neurochemical alterations produced by daily nicotine exposure in periadolescent vs. adult male rats.
Chronic treatment with nicotine differentially alters behavior in adolescent rats compared to adult rats. It is not known, however, whether the effects of nicotine on the neurochemical pathways with which it interacts differ in adolescents vs. adults. In the current study, the effects of a 7-day treatment with nicotine on nicotinic, dopaminergic, and serotonergic neurochemistry were examined in the caudate putamen and nucleus accumbens in periadolescent vs. adult male rats. Nicotine treatment increased dopamine transporter densities and decreased serotonin transporter densities in periadolescent rats. There was no change in nicotinic acetylcholine receptor densities or dopamine D1 or D2 receptor densities in nicotine-pretreated periadolescent rats. In adult rats pretreated with nicotine, there was an increase in nicotinic acetylcholine densities, but no change in dopamine transporter, dopamine D1 or D2 receptor, or serotonin transporter densities. Overall, these findings show that periadolescent rats have neurochemical adaptations to nicotine different from adult rats. These alterations may explain, at least in part, the differential behavioral effects of chronic nicotine in adult and adolescent male rats.
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami School of Medicine, 1400 NW 10th Avenue, Suite 704A (D-80), Miami, FL 33136, USA.
Stephanie L
SL
Collins
Dean
D
Wade
Jennifer
J
Ledon
Sari
S
Izenwasser
D000375:Aging / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D002421:Caudate Nucleus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D008297:Male; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009538:Nicotine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D011485:Protein Binding / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D011699:Putamen / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D011954:Receptors, Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins
D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D011954:Receptors, Dopamine; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; C493232:Slc6a4 protein, rat; D009538:Nicotine