Elsevier

Neuropharmacology

Volume 24, Issue 6, June 1985, Pages 527-531
Neuropharmacology

Exposure to nicotine enhances the behavioral stimulant effect of nicotine and increases binding of [3H]acetylcholine to nicotinic receptors

https://doi.org/10.1016/0028-3908(85)90058-9Get rights and content

Abstract

Rats were given daily injections of nicotine sulfate in doses ranging from 0.1 to 0.4 mg/kg. The behavioral effect of these injections was measured as locomotor activity in photocell cages. Repeated administration of the same dose to each rat resulted in an enhancement of the stimulant effect of nicotine. This enhanced behavioral effect was quite pronounced within 5 days of repeated injection. Tissue from the cerebral cortex of these rats, exposed to nicotine for 5 days, was assayed for binding of [3H]acetylcholine to nicotinic receptors. These relatively small doses of nicotine resulted in 18–26% increases in cortical nicotinic receptors, compared to saline-treated rats.

Rats exposed to 0.2 mg/kg of nicotine for 5 days and then given saline for 7 days still showed an enhanced behavioral response to nicotine on the eighth day after exposure, and nicotinic binding in the cortex was still elevated. However, 21 days after exposure to nicotine both the behavioral response to nicotine and the binding values had returned to the same values as those of saline-treated rats.

These data imply that the increased binding of [3H]acetylcholine to nicotinic sites and the enhanced behavioral effect of nicotine are functionally linked.

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    Then, each animal/group received the respective treatment. Since the maximum levels of nicotine-induced locomotor activity are reached 30–45 min after nicotine administration and decrease gradually returning to their baseline levels at 140–180 min after injection (Clarke and Kumar, 1983; Ksir et al., 1985), locomotor activity was recorded every 15 min, for a total of 240 min. Data were expressed as mean ± S.E.M. Locomotor activity was measured by photobeam interruptions during the testing session.

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