ArticleBiological psychiatry2013
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors containing the α4 subunit modulate alcohol reward.
Article in Biological psychiatry, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 56 citations in OpenAlex.
- The role of nicotinic receptors in alcohol consumption.Pharmacological research · 2023Pooled it
- Effect of Combination Treatment With Varenicline and Nicotine Patch on Smoking Cessation Among Smokers Who Drink Heavily: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2022Trial
- Association of the CHRNA4 neuronal nicotinic receptor subunit gene with frequency of binge drinking in young adults.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2014Trial
- Chronic nicotine vapor-induced enhancement of ethanol drinking-in-the-dark is associated with reduced medial prefrontal cortical activity.Psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Clinical and preclinical evidence of sex differences in nicotine-induced enhancement of alcohol self-administration.Psychopharmacology · 2026Review
- "Unraveling the role ofReceptors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Expression pattern of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit transcripts in neurons and astrocytes in the ventral tegmental area and locus coeruleus.The European journal of neuroscience · 2024Article
- A review on the reciprocal interactions between neuroinflammatory processes and substance use and misuse, with a focus on alcohol misuse.The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse · 2023Review
- Inbred mouse strain differences in alcohol and nicotine addiction-related phenotypes from adolescence to adulthood.Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior · 2022Review
- Article
- Ethanol interaction with α3β4 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in neurons of the laterodorsal tegmentum.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2021Article
- Sex Differences in the Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor System of Rodents: Impacts on Nicotine and Alcohol Reward Behaviors.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2021Review
- The role of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in alcohol-related behaviors.Brain research bulletin · 2020Review
- Promoting activity of (α4)Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2020Article
- Nicotine and alcohol: the role of midbrain dopaminergic neurons in drug reinforcement.The European journal of neuroscience · 2019Review
- Gene editing vectors for studying nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in cholinergic transmission.The European journal of neuroscience · 2019Article
- A Novel Peptide Restricts Ethanol Modulation of the BK Channel In Vitro and In Vivo.The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics · 2018Article
- DNA damage and oxidative stress induced by seizures are decreased by anticonvulsant and neuroprotective effects of lobeline, a candidate to treat alcoholism.Metabolic brain disease · 2018Article
- Nicotine enhances alcohol intake and dopaminergic responses through β2* and β4* nicotinic acetylcholine receptors.Scientific reports · 2017Article
- Mechanisms and genetic factors underlying co-use of nicotine and alcohol or other drugs of abuse.The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse · 2017Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundNicotine and alcohol are the two most co-abused drugs in the world, suggesting a common mechanism of action might underlie their rewarding properties. Although nicotine elicits reward by activating ventral tegmental area dopaminergic (DAergic) neurons via high-affinity neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), the mechanism by which alcohol activates these neurons is unclear.
methodsBecause most high-affinity nAChRs expressed in ventral tegmental area DAergic neurons contain the α4 subunit, we measured ethanol-induced activation of DAergic neurons in midbrain slices from two complementary mouse models, an α4 knock-out (KO) mouse line and a knock-in line (Leu9'Ala) expressing α4 subunit-containing nAChRs hypersensitive to agonist compared with wild-type (WT). Activation of DAergic neurons by ethanol was analyzed with both biophysical and immunohistochemical approaches in midbrain slices. The ability of alcohol to condition a place preference in each mouse model was also measured.
resultsAt intoxicating concentrations, ethanol activation of DAergic neurons was significantly reduced in α4 KO mice compared with WT. Conversely, in Leu9'Ala mice, DAergic neurons were activated by low ethanol concentrations that did not increase activity of WT neurons. In addition, alcohol potentiated the response to ACh in DAergic neurons, an effect reduced in α4 KO mice. Rewarding alcohol doses failed to condition a place preference in α4 KO mice, paralleling alcohol effects on DAergic neuron activity, whereas a sub-rewarding alcohol dose was sufficient to condition a place preference in Leu9'Ala mice.
conclusionsTogether, these data indicate that nAChRs containing the α4 subunit modulate alcohol reward.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.