Adolescent Substance Abuse Articles
Study may provide new target for anti-smoking therapies
By Staff Writer
Each year, more deaths are caused by tobacco use than from HIV, illegal drug and alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides and murder combined, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For some, cigarette use is the result of addiction in families. Individuals who want to kick the habit may be interested in new research that might have identified a target in the brain for anti-smoking therapies.
The research, which appears in the journal Nature, was conducted by scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute. For their study, the researchers examined the effects of a brain receptor that responds to nicotine.
Using animal models, the scientists found that a genetic mutation inhibiting this receptor led to the consumption of above average amounts of nicotine. The researchers believe that this effect could be reversed by boosting the receptor's expression.
In addition to providing a potential target for the anti-smoking therapies, the researchers feel that these findings establish a better understanding of the brain pathways that regulate one's vulnerability to tobacco addiction and what drives individuals to consume nicotine.
Since completing their study, the Scripp researchers have partnered with scientists from the University of Pennsylvania to develop a drug that would decrease nicotine's addictive properties.
