Nicotine Opiates

Most of the research and results have been focused on the effects of drug therapy on the disorders induced by alcohol, and by opiates abuse. For all drugs, the first objective is to wean the patients from the drug, treating or preventing the effects of withdrawal for those drugs which cause physical dependence (alcohol, nicotine, opiates, caffeine, certain psychotropic agents such as benzodiazepines, possibly antidepressants). The second phase is the prevention of recurrence or relapse, which relies on a com-... 

There are four broad classes of alkaloids whose general economic aspects are important (/) the opiates such as morphine and codeine (2, R = H and R = CH3, respectively) (2) cocaine (11) (both Hcit and iUicit) (2) caffeine (16) and related bases in coffee and tea, and (4) the tobacco alkaloids such as nicotine (21). 

The nucleus accumbens is part of the limbic system. It receives dopaminergic input through the mesolimbic system that originates from cell bodies in the ventral segmental area (A 10 cell group). This mesolimbic dopaminergic pathway is part of the reward pathways. Drugs of abuse (cocaine, amphetamine, opiates or nicotine) have been shown to increase the level of dopamine release in these neurons. 

Several classes of drugs modulate the firing rates or patterns of midbrain dopamine neurons by direct, monosynaptic, or indirect, polysynaptic, inputs to the cell bodies within the ventral mesencephalon (i.e., nicotine and opiates). In contrast, amphetamine, cocaine, and methylphenidate act at the level of the dopamine terminal interfering with normal processes of transmitter packaging, release, reuptake, and metabolism. 

Jaffe JH Drug dependence opioids, nonnarcotics, nicotine (tobacco), and caffeine, in Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, 5th Edition, Vol 1. Edited by Kaplan HI, Sadock BJ. Baltimore, Williams c Wilkins, 1989, pp 642-686 Jaffe J, Knapp CM, Ciraulo DA Opiates clinical aspects, in Substance Abuse A Comprehensive Textbook. Edited by Lowinson JH, Ruiz P, Millman RB, et al. New York, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2004, pp 158—165 Jarvis MA, Schnoll SH Methadone use dming pregnancy. NIDA Res Monogr 149 58— 77, 1995... 

The dopaminergic system plays a role in the abuse liability for some, if not most, drugs. The stimulants — opiates, marijuana, nicotine, and ethanol — all interact directly or indirectly with... 

Inhalation (IH) The administration of volatile gases and vapours, followed by drug absorption in the lungs or nasal mucosa. Examples include general anaesthetics like nitrous oxide, nicotine from the tar droplets in tobacco smoke, cannabinoids from cannabis leaf smoke and various opiates from burning opium resin. 

The pleasure derived from using tobacco is linked to the stimulation of dopamine-dependent neurotransmitter pathways in the brain, particularly in the meso-limbic system. The precise nature of this link remains controversial, but many of the neurophysiological processes underlying nicotine addiction are common to other addictive drugs with diverse pharmacological actions such as opiates, cannabis, alcohol and cocaine. 

Eldefrawi, A. T., Miller, E. R., Murphy, D. L., and Eldefrawi, M. E. (1982) (3H)Phencyclidine interactions with the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor channel and its inhibition by psychotropic, antipsychotic, opiate, antidepressant, antibiotic, antiviral and antiarrhythmic drugs. Mol. Pharmacol., 22 72-81. 

The abstinence syndrome, evoked in animals by the withdrawal of nicotine, appears to be similar to that seen following opiate withdrawal (Malin et al. 1992). Furthermore, Malin and co-workers have reported that the abstinence syndrome can be provoked by the administration of the opiate antagonist, naxolone, to nicotine-treated rats (Malin et al. 1993). These results suggest that the abstinence syndrome... 

Stewart J (1983) Conditioned and unconditioned drug effects in relapse to opiate and stimulant drug-administration. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 7 591-597 Stolerman IP (1988) Characterization of central nicotinic receptors by studies on the nicotine cue and conditioned taste aversion in rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 30 235-242 Stolerman IP (1989) Discriminative stimulus effects of nicotine in rats trained under different schedules of reinforcement. Psychopharmacology 97 131-138 Stolerman IP (1999) Inter-species consistency in the behavioural pharmacology of nicotine dependence. Behav Pharmacol 10 559-580... 

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