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Cholinergic Transmission During Nicotine Withdrawal Is Influenced By Age And Pre-Exposure To Nicotine: Implications For Teenage Smoking, Laura O'Dell
Laura Elena O'Dell
Adolescence is a unique period of development characterized by enhanced tobacco use and long-term vulnerability to neurochemical changes produced by adolescent nicotine exposure. In order to understand the underlying mechanisms that contribute to developmental differences in tobacco use, this study compared changes in cholinergic transmission produced by exposure to nicotine and withdrawal from nicotine in rats of different ages, some of which had exposure to nicotine as adolescents. The first study compared extracellular levels of acetylcholine (ACh) in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) during nicotine withdrawal in adolescent, adult and adult rats that were exposed to nicotine during adolescence. Adolescent (PND …
Insulin-Resistant Rats Display Enhanced Nicotine Reward Following A High-Fat Diet Regimen., Laura O'Dell
Insulin-Resistant Rats Display Enhanced Nicotine Reward Following A High-Fat Diet Regimen., Laura O'Dell
Laura Elena O'Dell
Tobacco use among persons displaying type II diabetes exponentially increases negative health consequences and mortality rates. Especially troubling, diabetic persons who smoke display reduced rates of tobacco cessation as compared to non-diabetic smokers. Diabetes is a metabolic syndrome that consists of insulin resistance due to disruptions in insulin signaling. Insulin has been shown to modulate mesolimbic reward circuitry in response to drugs of abuse, such as nicotine. This study utilized the conditioned place preference paradigm (CPP) to examine nicotine reward in a rat model of insulin resistance induced by the consumption of a high-fat diet (HFD). Rats were placed on …