Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30325916›Full record

ArticlePLoS biology2018

Nicotine exposure of male mice produces behavioral impairment in multiple generations of descendants.

Deirdre M McCarthy, Thomas J Morgan, Sarah E Lowe, Matthew J Williamson, Thomas J Spencer, Joseph Biederman, Pradeep G Bhide

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PLoS biology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 79 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
79citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
5.0field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

79 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 136 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Environmental and Genetic Perturbations of the Sperm Epigenome.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026
    Review
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Paternal heroin self-administration in rats increases drug-seeking behavior in male offspring via miR-19b downregulation in the nucleus accumbens.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025
    Article
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  19. Article
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19 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Deirdre M McCarthyCenter for Brain Repair, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Florida State University College of Medicine, Tallahassee, Florida, United States of America.
Thomas J MorganCenter for Brain Repair, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Florida State University College of Medicine, Tallahassee, Florida, United States of America.
Sarah E LoweCenter for Brain Repair, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Florida State University College of Medicine, Tallahassee, Florida, United States of America.
Matthew J WilliamsonCenter for Brain Repair, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Florida State University College of Medicine, Tallahassee, Florida, United States of America.
Thomas J SpencerPediatric Psychopharmacology, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Joseph BiedermanPediatric Psychopharmacology, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Pradeep G BhideCenter for Brain Repair, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Florida State University College of Medicine, Tallahassee, Florida, United States of America.ORCID 0000-0003-4236-9415
Florida State University · USHarvard University · US

Funding

Transgenerational Transmission of the Effects of Paternal Nicotine ExposureR15DA043848 · NIDA · FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY · PI BHIDE, PRADEEP G · 2018 to 2018
$459k
NIDA NIH HHS R15 DA043848
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Use of tobacco products is injurious to health in men and women. However, tobacco use by pregnant women receives greater scrutiny because it can also compromise the health of future generations. More men smoke cigarettes than women. Yet the impact of nicotine use by men upon their descendants has not been as widely scrutinized. We exposed male C57BL/6 mice to nicotine (200 μg/mL in drinking water) for 12 wk and bred the mice with drug-naïve females to produce the F1 generation. Male and female F1 mice were bred with drug-naïve partners to produce the F2 generation. We analyzed spontaneous locomotor activity, working memory, attention, and reversal learning in male and female F1 and F2 mice. Both male and female F1 mice derived from the nicotine-exposed males showed significant increases in spontaneous locomotor activity and significant deficits in reversal learning. The male F1 mice also showed significant deficits in attention, brain monoamine content, and dopamine receptor mRNA expression. Examination of the F2 generation showed that male F2 mice derived from paternally nicotine-exposed female F1 mice had significant deficits in reversal learning. Analysis of epigenetic changes in the spermatozoa of the nicotine-exposed male founders (F0) showed significant changes in global DNA methylation and DNA methylation at promoter regions of the dopamine D2 receptor gene. Our findings show that nicotine exposure of male mice produces behavioral changes in multiple generations of descendants. Nicotine-induced changes in spermatozoal DNA methylation are a plausible mechanism for the transgenerational transmission of the phenotypes. These findings underscore the need to enlarge the current focus of research and public policy targeting nicotine exposure of pregnant mothers by a more equitable focus on nicotine exposure of the mother and the father.

Indexed as

AnimalsBehavior, AnimalBrainDNA MethylationEpigenesis, GeneticFemaleHumansMaleMemory, Short-TermMiceMice, Inbred C57BLModels, AnimalNicotinePaternal ExposurePaternal InheritancePregnancyDRD2 protein, mouseNicotineReceptors, Dopamine D2RNA, Messenger

Identifiers

PMID30325916
PMCPMC6191076
OpenAlexW2896896317

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.