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Nicotine activates the gene that is responsible for cocaine cravings
Last reviewed: 30.06.2025
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The idea that smoking could push a person to take more serious drugs in the future was first put forward in 1975. At that time, this hypothesis was considered interesting, but controversial. Only this year, the author of the idea, Denise Kandel (Columbia University, USA), was able to confirm it experimentally.
Previously, research results had been obtained that showed that the activity of some genes could be the basis for drug addiction. These data served as an impetus for a new study that established the effect of nicotine on protein-nucleic acid structures in the cell. The experiment consisted of administering a dose of nicotine to mice for 7 days, after which they were transferred to cocaine. The scientists then assessed the degree of addiction to cocaine.
The results of the study showed that animals that had previously received nicotine were 98% more likely to return to the place where cocaine was distributed and spent 78% more time in the place where they received the drug. The scientists did not observe the opposite effect, so cocaine does not stimulate addiction to nicotine.
The basis of this phenomenon turned out to be epigenetic mechanisms, namely, as a result of the action of nicotine, there is an increase in the production of the transcription factor FosB, which is a marker of various addictions. The mechanism of action of nicotine on this factor is the effect on histones and DNA packaging proteins.
The adolescent brain is more susceptible to environmental influences than the adult brain, so neurons at this age can easily remember the effects of nicotine on epigenetic mechanisms. Epigenetic studies were confirmed by statistical data collected from 1,160 educational institutions in the United States - smoking in adolescence increases the risk of developing cocaine addiction in the future.
Scientists are preparing to conduct a new study that would show the link between smoking and the development of alcoholism and other drug addictions.
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