A Brain Imaging Study Into Nicotine Induced Dopamine Release in Cigarette Smokers.

• Status: Unknown status
• Trial end date: 2012-07-01
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: Male

Summary

Dopamine (DA) plays a critical role in nicotine (and other) addiction and this drug is known to release DA in brain areas mediating reward and motivational processes. Although imaging studies show that release of DA follows smoking, little is known regarding how common genetic polymorphisms for three genes associated in some studies with smoking (dopamine D2 receptor, dopamine and serotonin transporter) interact with smoking status and modulate individual differences in nicotine-induced DA release and dopamine receptor occupancy, in vivo. The current proposal combines brain imaging and genomics ('imaging genomics') towards partially unraveling the complex relationship between smoking phenotype and common polymorphisms. Understanding whether genetic factors contribute to inter-individual variability in smoking is crucial for interpreting imaging results in the context of disease pathology. We hypothesize that a model of vulnerability to addiction based on interactions between genotype, receptor and transporter availability and in vivo nicotine-induced DA release will elucidate some of the fundamental neurochemical and neurogenetic circuits underlying addiction.

• Phase: N/A
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Details

• Lead Sponsor: Hadassah Medical Organization
• Treatments: Bupropion; Dopamine; Dopamine Agents; Nicotine; Raclopride

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• smokers who smoked 15 cigarettes/day and who met the DSM-IV criteria for nicotine dependence

Exclusion Criteria:

• Subjects who are diagnosed as suffering from psychotic illness according to DSM-IV (Axis 1)22, or with a history of CNS disease, a history of infection that might affect CNS (HIV, syphilis, cytomegalovirus, herpes), or a history of head injury with loss of consciousness will be excluded.