Drug effects: Nicotine, UTC for healthcare professionals

On average, tobacco cigarettes contain between 10 and 14 mg of nicotine, of which the person who smokes absorbs approximately 1 to 1.5 mg (Benowitz, 2009).

Nicotine is a weak agonist of nicotinic cholinergic receptors (nAChRs), which means that it activates these receptors, but not as strongly as does the natural neurotransmitter (acetylcholine) in the CNS.

Nicotine reinforces the consumption behavior by binding to α4β2 receptors in dopaminergic neurons of the CNS, which produces depolarization and favors the release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens (Benowitz, 2010).

References

-Benowitz, N., Hukkanen, J., & Jacob, PIII. (2009). Nicotine chemistry, metabolism, kinetics and biomarkers. Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, 192: 29 – 60.

-Benowitz, N. (2010). Nicotine addiction. New England Journal of Medicine, 352, 2295 – 2303.

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Drug effects: Nicotine, UTC for healthcare professionals

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