D2 dopamine receptor gene and cigarette smoking: a reward gene?

نویسندگان

  • E P Noble
  • S T St Jeor
  • T Ritchie
  • K Syndulko
  • S C St Jeor
  • R J Fitch
  • R L Brunner
  • R S Sparkes
چکیده

There is now growing evidence that the less prevalent allele (A1) of the D2 dopamine receptor (DRD2) gene is strongly associated with severe alcoholism. Similarly, subjects who abuse illegal drugs or who are obese also show a significantly higher prevalence of the A1 DRD2 allele compared to controls. Moreover, cigarette smokers, both past and current, demonstrate significantly higher prevalence of the A1 allele than nonsmokers. In as much as alcohol, cocaine, opiates, nicotine and food are known to increase brain dopamine levels and activate the mesocorticolimbic dopaminergic reward pathways of the brain, it is hypothesized that an inherited deficit of D2 dopamine receptor numbers in brain reward areas of A1 allelic subject predisposes them to substance abuse problems.

برای دانلود رایگان متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

منابع مشابه

A review of the role of dopamine receptors and novel therapeutic strategies in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

Lung cancer is a very aggressive and most deadly cancer in both men and women. Lung cancer is divided into two types of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). NSCLC is divided into 3 subgroups: adenocarcinoma (AC), squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC) and large cell carcinoma (LCC). Dopamine is involved in controlling motions, cognition, emotions, memory and reward mech...

متن کامل

Cigarette Use and Striatal Dopamine D2/3 Receptors: Possible Role in the Link between Smoking and Nicotine Dependence

BACKGROUND Cigarette smoking induces dopamine release in the striatum, and smoking- or nicotine-induced ventral striatal dopamine release is correlated with nicotine dependence. Smokers also exhibit lower dopamine D2/3 receptor availability in the dorsal striatum than nonsmokers. Negative correlations of striatal dopamine D2/3 receptor availability with smoking exposure and nicotine dependence,...

متن کامل

The CHRNA3 rs578776 Variant is Associated with an Intrinsic Reward Sensitivity Deficit in Smokers

A compromised brain reward system has been postulated as a key feature of drug dependence. We examined whether several polymorphisms of genes found to regulate nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) and dopamine expression were related to an intrinsic reward sensitivity (IRS) deficit we previously identified among a subgroup of smokers using event-related potentials (ERPs). We examined geneti...

متن کامل

Study of Dopamine Receptor Gene Polymorphisms and Their Association with Growth and Egg Production Traits in West Azerbaijan Native Chicken

The objective of this study was to search for single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-type polymorphisms in the dopamine D1 receptor in West Azerbaijani native chicken and look for their association with egg production and body weight traits of chickens by polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP). For this purpose 180 blood samples were taken from nativ...

متن کامل

The Involvement of Intra-Hippocampal Dopamine Receptors in the Conditioned Place Preference Induced By Orexin Administration into the Rat Ventral Tegmental Area

The activity of dopamine (DA)-containing neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) is a key mechanism in mesolimbic reward processing that has modulatory effects on different diencephalic structures like hippocampus (HIP), and receives inhibitory feedback and excitatory feed forward control. In addition, within the hippocampus, DA receptors are mostly located in the dorsal part (CA1) and dopa...

متن کامل

ذخیره در منابع من


  با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید

عنوان ژورنال:
  • Medical hypotheses

دوره 42 4  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 1994