Posted on 11/19/2004 4:34:17 PM PST by qam1
Departments of Pharmacology, Physiology and Biophysics, College of Medicine, Howard University, Division of Internal Medicine, Howard University Hospital, Washington, DC 20059, USA. ytizabi@howard.edu.
The high incidence of smoking among alcoholics may be partially due to nicotine's ability to counteract some of the adverse effects of ethanol on motor coordination and/or cognitive functions. Neuroprotective effects of nicotine on ethanol-induced toxicity in cerebellar granular cells have been observed.
In this study, we sought to determine whether similar protection is observed in neocortical cells and if so, what specific nicotinic receptor subtypes may be mediating the actions of nicotine. Primary cultures of neocortical cells were prepared from 20-day embryos obtained from time-pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats. Cells were cultured for 10 days and were then exposed for 3 days to various concentrations of ethanol with and without pretreatment with nicotine and nicotinic antagonists. Cellular toxicity was evaluated by measuring the lactate dehydrogenase level.
Administration of ethanol (10-100 mM) resulted in a dose-dependent toxicity. Pretreatment with nicotine 5-20 microM resulted in a dose-dependent protection against ethanol-induced toxicity. The effects of nicotine were blocked by pretreatment with nicotinic antagonists such as mecamylamine (1-20 microM), dihydro-beta-erythroidine (DHBE) 50 nM-1.0 microM and methyllycaconitine (MLA) 5 nM-1 microM in a dose-dependent manner.
Compared to previous studies, higher ethanol concentrations were required to induce toxicity in neocortical vs cerebellar granule cells. Moreover, the effects of nicotine in the neocortical cells were blocked by lower concentrartions of MLA, but higher concentrations of DHBE compared to cerebellar cells. Collectively, the results suggest differential sensitivity of various neuronal populations to the toxic effect of ethanol. Furthermore, protective effects of nicotine against alcohol in various regions appear to be mediated by different nicotinic receptor subtypes.
The neuroprotective effect of nicotine against ethanol-induced toxicity may be a contributing factor to the high incidence of smoking among alcoholics.
PMID: 15545014 [PubMed - in process]
That's great, if you don't mind the hole in your throat.
I always smoke a cigar with my bourbon. Now, where did I put those stogies?
Does it work if I just wear the patch while drinking?
The high incidence of smoking among alcoholics may be partially due to nicotine's ability to counteract some of the adverse effects of ethanol on motor coordination and/or cognitive functions. Neuroprotective effects of nicotine on ethanol-induced toxicity in cerebellar granular cells have been observed.
Translation: Alcohol is a depressant and nicotine is a stimulant. The rest is obvious.
0 lives saved
1,000,000,000,000,000+ unprotected brain cells dead
PING
"That's great, if you don't mind the hole in your throat."
The hole is where you put the smoke while you drink I guess.
Easy for YOU to say.
absolutely..........now we have the evidence to allow smoking in bars again........at least here in Calif and new York and anywhere else that silly law is in effect....if we can smoke in bars again........there will be less toxicity and maybe fewer DUI's..........wow.......it all makes sense now
Neurotox Res. 2004;6(4):311-6.
Not exactly - the point they're making is, to me, a puzzling one - that you see a higner incidence of smoking in alcoholics because nicotine interferes with the toxic effecs of ethanol. That seems an odd determination. Yours is more logical. Let's face it, no alcoholic thinks to him/herself: "Gee, if I smoke a cig, it'll decrease the effect of the alcohol" and that seems to be what the first and last sentence seem to try to convey.
I wonder if what they are really trying to say is, "Because nicotine interferes with the ability of ethanol to induce neurotoxicosis, it takes more alcohol for a smoker to get the high and therefore a smoker is more likely to become an alcoholic.
Interesting science, but I don't think the person who wrote this abstract did a very good job of defining their results.
Just my 2 cents
Obesity is a bigger killer than smoking
Bingo
Quit drinking nearly 20 years ago.
Quit smoking almost 6 months ago.
I'm gonna live forever...but it's gonna be boring as hell.
Get a grip. I have smoked since I was 16 and there is no hole in MY throat. And I haven't seen any smokers where I live in 20 years up here with a HOLE IN THEIR THROAT.
Get a grip.
Where Mr. Spock would reply, I believe I said that, Doctor.
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