Brain nicotinic receptors diseases associated with

Abstract The existence of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChRs) expression in the brain was discovered 30 years ago. Although the relevance of neuronal nAChRs at the time of their discovery was debated, it is now clear that nAChRs are expressed throughout the brain where they mainly serve a modulatory role. Neuronal nAChRs increasingly have become of interest due to the many observations that various nAChR subtypes exhibit abnormal expression or function in a wide assortment of neurological diseases. In this review, the putative role of nAChRs in brain disease is discussed in several broad categories (1) diseases associated with a loss of nAChRs, (2) diseases associated with innate differences in the expression of nAChRs, (3) diseases associated with genetic variability in genes that code for nAChR subunit proteins, and (4) diseases in which nAChRs are implicated based on the observation that nicotine has a therapeutic effect. 

Diseases Associated with Loss of Brain Nicotinic Receptors. 760... 

The diseases associated with loss of nAChRs are typically neurodegenerative diseases. The two most studied diseases that are associated with the loss of nicotinic receptors in the brain are Parkinson s and Alzheimer s. 

Nicotine, the major alkaloid fotmd in tobacco plant leaves and the prototypical nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) agonist, is known to reduce memory impairment associated with chronic stress [1-3], aging [4—8], brain lesions [9], and cognitive disorders, including Alzheimer s disease (AD) [3, 10-14], schizophrenia [14], attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) [15,16], Parkinson s disease [13, 17], post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) [18], sleep deprivation [19, 20], and hypothyroidism [21, 22], Moreover, nicotine is a potent scavenger of hydroxyl and superoxide free radicals. In fact, it has been reported that nicotine is more of an antioxidant than vitamin C [23]. 

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