Advances in Nicotine Research

About the Book

Advances in Nicotine Research: A Century of Progress, chronicles the advances which were made during the 1900s in understanding the actions of one of the most widely used drugs in the world. In the first chapter, an overview of the initial uses of nicotine as a therapeutic agent, along with information on its chemistry, uptake into the body, distribution to the brain and other tissues, and its metabolism and elimination from the body is presented. The subsequent chapters focus on the breakthroughs which occurred during the 1900s in nicotine research. Of particular importance was the discovery of receptors, the large protein molecules upon which the body´s natural hormones, neurotransmitters, and most drugs act. The discovery of receptors resulted directly from investigations of nicotine´s actions on nerve-muscle connections at the beginning of the twentieth century. Incredible progress was made in the last twenty years of the 20th century in discovering the multitude of receptors upon which nicotine acts, and their biological and anatomical diversity in the body.

The effects of nicotine acting on these receptors and the important advances made in understanding its actions is discussed, first as it applies to the peripheral nervous system, and then with more emphasis and in more detail as it applies to the brain. As research on nicotine progressed during the second half of the century, it began to be appreciated that nicotine acts on acetylcholine receptors as a neuromodulator to influence the activity of many neurotransmitters and hormones in the body. Advances in understanding nicotine´s effects on dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, glutamate, and other neurotransmitters in the brain are covered. The book then deals with how these actions of nicotine influence behavior, both non-cognitive, such as sleep, muscle activity and brain electrical potentials; and then cognitive behaviors such as learning, reward, and self-administration.

The book concludes with a categorization of the advances which were made in understanding nicotine´s contribution to tobacco use and cigarette smoking in particular. The various effects of nicotine on arousal, mood, attention and pleasure are discussed. In addition, research on smoking behavior as it applies to nicotine administration, such as the patterns of nicotine intake, dosage forms of nicotine, nicotine replacement therapy, and nicotine withdrawal is discussed.

About the Author

Drs. Rowell and Carr are Professors of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. They have been involved in research on nicotine and its actions in the brain for over twenty five years and have collaborated on many studies and scientific publications. In particular, their investigations on the effects of nicotine on brain monoamine oxidase activity, receptor inactivation, and dopamine release have been instrumental in advancing the understanding of nicotine’s role in cigarette smoking and the possibilities of using nicotine or nicotine analogs as therapeutic agents.