Jack E. Henningfield – Nicotine Psychopharmacology

Автор: Jack E. Henningfield
Название книги: Nicotine Psychopharmacology
Формат: PDF
Жанр: Медицина
Страницы: 541
Качество: Изначально компьютерное, E-book

The fact that tobacco ingestion can affect how people feel and think has been known for millennia, placing the plant among those used spiritually, honori?cally, and habitually (Corti 1931; Wilbert 1987). However, the conclusion that nicotine – counted for many of these psychopharmacological effects did not emerge until the nineteenth century (Langley 1905). This was elegantly described by Lewin in 1931 as follows: “The decisive factor in the effects of tobacco, desired or undesired, is nicotine. . . ”(Lewin 1998). The use of nicotine as a pharmacological probe to und- stand physiological functioning at the dawn of the twentieth century was a landmark in the birth of modern neuropharmacology (Limbird 2004; Halliwell 2007), and led the pioneering researcher John Langley to conclude that there must exist some “- ceptive substance” to explain the diverse actions of various substances, including nicotine, when applied to muscle tissue (Langley 1905). Research on tobacco and nicotine progressed throughout the twentieth century, but much of this was from a general pharmacological and toxicological rather than a psychopharmacological perspective (Larson et al. 1961). There was some attention to the effects related to addiction, such as euphoria (Johnston 1941), tolerance (Lewin 1931), and withdrawal (Finnegan et al. 1945), but outside of research supported by the tobacco industry, addiction and psychopharmacology were not major foci for research (Slade et al. 1995; Hurt and Robertson 1998; Henning?eld et al. 2006; Henning?eld and Hartel 1999; Larson et al. 1961).

The fact that tobacco ingestion can affect how people feel and think has been known
for millennia, placing the plant among those used spiritually, honorifically, and
habitually (Corti 1931; Wilbert 1987). However, the conclusion that nicotine accounted
for many of these psychopharmacological effects did not emerge until the
nineteenth century (Langley 1905). This was elegantly described by Lewin in 1931
as follows: “The decisive factor in the effects of tobacco, desired or undesired, is
nicotine. . . ” (Lewin 1998). The use of nicotine as a pharmacological probe to understand
physiological functioning at the dawn of the twentieth century was a landmark
in the birth of modern neuropharmacology (Limbird 2004; Halliwell 2007), and led
the pioneering researcher John Langley to conclude that there must exist some “receptive
substance” to explain the diverse actions of various substances, including
nicotine, when applied to muscle tissue (Langley 1905).
Research on tobacco and nicotine progressed throughout the twentieth century,
but much of this was from a general pharmacological and toxicological rather
than a psychopharmacological perspective (Larson et al. 1961). There was some
attention to the effects related to addiction, such as euphoria (Johnston 1941),
tolerance (Lewin 1931), and withdrawal (Finnegan et al. 1945), but outside of
research supported by the tobacco industry, addiction and psychopharmacology
were not major foci for research (Slade et al. 1995; Hurt and Robertson 1998;
Henningfield et al. 2006; Henningfield and Hartel 1999; Larson et al. 1961). This
situation changed rapidly in the 1970s and 1980s with a virtual explosion of research
focused on nicotine psychopharmacology and potential addictive effects (US
DHHS 1979, 1988; National Institute on Drug Abuse 1984, 1987 (Henningfield
and Goldberg 1983).
The expansion of nicotine-related research was driven largely by the growing
recognition of the emerging tobacco epidemic. It was facilitated by advances in research
methodology and technology that enabled scientists to examine the cellular
and even molecular basis of nicotine action. Such developments contributed to a
rapidly increasing understanding of the effects of nicotine on brain structure and
function, as well as to identifying and characterizing the effects of the multitude of
subtypes of nicotinic receptors, laying the foundation for advances that might lead
to therapeutic uses of nicotine and related molecules beyond their use for the treatment
of tobacco dependence and withdrawal (Henningfield et al. 2006; Buchhalter
et al. 2008).
An update on the remarkable progress in research related to nicotine psychopharmacology
was presented in a special issue of the journal Psychopharmacology in
2006. The volume clearly struck a chord with many in basic science, public health,
and policy, who learned that this area of pharmacological science was not only
strong, but also highly relevant to potential public health policy and regulatory efforts
aimed at controlling tobacco use, addiction, and resultant deadly disease. This
was anticipated in the mid 1990s when the Commissioner of the United States Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed that the agency regulate tobacco products
(Kessler 2001; Kessler et al. 1997; FDA 1995, 1996). The Commissioner’s testimony
and recommendations were based in part on basic science findings, including
the actions of nicotine on nicotinic receptors in the brain, advances in understanding
the mechanisms of action of nicotine through neuroimaging, and discriminative and
reinforcing actions of nicotine. Subsequently, the World Health Organization came
to rely in part on psychopharmacological research findings as part of the science
base for development and implementation of its international treaty, proposed in the
late 1990s, which entered into force in 2005 (WHO 2005). The Treaty’s articles that
include attention to nicotine dosing capacity and effect, in particular, will continue
to rely on psychopharmacology research as they are implemented.
The European Commission has also taken a strong science-based approach to
tobacco disease control and product regulation and has made tobacco control a priority
since the mid 1980s. For examples, reports by the Analysis of Science Policy
in Europe for Control of Tobacco (ASPECT) Consortium financed by and prepared
for the use of the European Commision, Directorate-General for Health and Consumer
Protection emphasize the need for a strong science base for tobacco-control
policy and interventions (European Commission 2004, 2007). There are many other
national and regional efforts as well, but these illustrate the global public health
and regulatory importance of nicotine and tobacco science that has included psychopharmacological
research.
The fact that psychopharmacological research on nicotine and related compounds
was progressing at a rapid pace, with broad and substantial interest, indicated that
an update, in the form of a systematically planned and edited special volume, could
serve the field and facilitate scientific progress. It was challenging to represent the
many promising areas of research, from molecular to clinical to epidemiological,
within a single volume. We asked leading researchers to write relatively focused
reviews on their areas of recent interest. Each article was reviewed by experts, including
other authors whose articles are published in this volume, producing what
we believe is a reference that will be useful to researchers, students, health professionals,
and to the growing number of people involved in efforts to regulate tobacco
product contents and designs nationally and internationally. This work was intended
as a contribution to the reversal of the current tobacco epidemic and thereby to preventing
many of the approximately one-half billion tobacco attributable deaths predicted
in the first half of the twentieth century (Koop 2004; Doll 1994).