Chronic caffeine exposure potentiates
nicotine self-administration in rat
by
Shoaib M, Swanner LS, Yasar S, Goldberg SR
Preclinical Pharmacology Laboratory,
Intramural Research Program,
National Institute on Drug Abuse,
National Institutes of Health,
Baltimore, MD 21224, USA.
spjumos@iop.bpmf.ac.uk
Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1999 Mar;142(4):327-33

ABSTRACT

The prevalence of tobacco smoking and coffee drinking place nicotine and caffeine among the most used licit drugs in many societies and their consumption is often characterised by concurrent use. The pharmacological basis for any putative interaction between these drugs remains unclear. Epidemiological reports support anecdotal evidence, which suggests that smokers consume caffeine to enhance the euphoric effects of nicotine. The aim of the present experiment was to examine effects of chronic exposure to caffeine on responding maintained by nicotine. Sprague-Dawley rats consuming caffeine (approximately 150-180 mg/kg per day) in their drinking water for 7 days prior to the beginning and throughout behavioural testing acquired intravenous nicotine self-administration (0.03 mg/kg per infusion) more rapidly than did controls. In a cross-over design, exclusion of caffeine brought levels of nicotine self-administration back to baseline, while adding caffeine to the drinking water of control rats increased responding maintained by nicotine over 90%. These findings strongly suggest that caffeine can potentiate the reinforcing properties of nicotine, thus highlighting the importance of environmental factors in shaping and maintaining tobacco smoking.

Caffeine
Tobacco
Cigarettes
Green tea
Varenicline
Smoking and MAO
Bupropion SR [Zyban]
Adenosine and reward
Antidepressants: nicotine
The neural basis of addiction
MAO inhibition in human coffee drinkers
Bupropion (Zyban) for cigarette smokers
Caffeine, dopamine/glutamate release in shell of NAc
Nicotine self-administration and increased reward-sensitivity

Refs
and further reading

HOME
HedWeb
Nootropics
cocaine.wiki
Future Opioids
BLTC Research
MDMA/Ecstasy
Superhapiness?
Utopian Surgery?
The Abolitionist Project
The Hedonistic Imperative
The Reproductive Revolution
Critique of Huxley's Brave New World

The Good Drug Guide
The Responsible Parent's Guide
To Healthy Mood Boosters For All The Family