ArticlePharmacology research & perspectives2015
Varenicline enhances dopamine release facilitation more than nicotine after long-term nicotine treatment and withdrawal.
Article in Pharmacology research & perspectives, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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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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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Relationship of Varenicline Agonism of α4β2 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors and Nicotine-Induced Dopamine Release in Nicotine-Dependent Humans.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2020Trial
- Article
- Long-term effects of adolescent versus adult nicotine self-administration on cholinergic modulation of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens core.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Article
- Altered Accumbal Dopamine Terminal Dynamics Following Chronic Heroin Self-Administration.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
- Specificity of Varenicline in Blocking Mesolimbic Circuit Activation to Natural and Drug Rewards.Neuroscience · 2022Article
- Addiction-related neuroadaptations following chronic nicotine exposure.Journal of neurochemistry · 2021Review
- Ethanol actions on the ventral tegmental area: novel potential targets on reward pathway neurons.Psychopharmacology · 2018Review
- The effect of nicotine pre-exposure on demand for cocaine and sucrose in male rats.Behavioural pharmacology · 2018Article
- Chronic Nicotine Mitigates Aberrant Inhibitory Motor Learning Induced by Motor Experience under Dopamine Deficiency.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2016Article
- Varenicline-Induced Elevation of Dopamine in Smokers: A Preliminary [(11)C]-(+)-PHNO PET Study.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
An important factor contributing to the high relapse rates among smokers is nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Multiple studies suggest that decreased dopamine release in nucleus accumbens plays a key role in withdrawal. However, recent reports showed that long-term nicotine exposure itself also decreases accumbal dopamine release, suggesting that additional mechanisms are involved in withdrawal. Here, we used real-time cyclic voltammetry in brain slices containing the nucleus accumbens to further elucidate the changes in dopamine release linked to nicotine withdrawal. Rats received vehicle or nicotine via the drinking water for 2-3 months. Studies assessing the expression of somatic signs in vehicle-treated, nicotine-treated, and 24-h nicotine withdrawn rats showed that nicotine withdrawal led to a significant increase in somatic signs. Subsequent voltammetry studies showed that long-term nicotine decreased single-pulse-stimulated dopamine release via an interaction at α6β2* receptors. Nicotine withdrawal led to a partial recovery in α6β2* receptor-mediated release. In addition, long-term nicotine treatment alone increased dopamine release paired-pulse ratios and this was partially reversed with nicotine removal. We then evaluated the effect of bath-applied nicotine and varenicline on dopamine release. Nicotine and varenicline both decreased single-pulse-stimulated release in vehicle-treated, nicotine-treated, and nicotine withdrawn rats. However, bath-applied varenicline increased paired-pulse ratios to a greater extent than nicotine during long-term nicotine treatment and after its withdrawal. Altogether these data suggest that nicotine withdrawal is associated with a partial restoration of dopamine release measures to control levels and that varenicline's differential modulation of dopamine release may contribute to its mechanism of action.
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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.