Sex differences in the effect of acute administration of nicotine on MRS-measured metabolic profile of the rat brain

Publication date: Available online 2 August 2019Source: Neuroscience ResearchAuthor(s): Serguei Liachenko, Jaivijay RamuAbstractWomen are less able to stop smoking than men. Elucidation of sex differences in the tobacco addiction could facilitate personalized treatment. Specialized brain reward systems are controlling the behavior through reinforcement using specific neuromediators. Using non-invasive magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to ascertain addiction/harm biomarkers could lead to better management of public health through advancements in regulatory and translational research. Proton MRS was used to monitor changes of specific neurometabolites in hippocampus (HC), nucleus accumbens (NAC), and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) of rats of both sexes after single intraperitoneal injection of nicotine. At the baseline, male rats showed higher level of GABA, taurine, N-acetyl aspartate, and creatine in HC, and taurine in NAC. Also, there were stronger correlations between neurometabolites in males than in females at the baseline. Nicotine administration changed taurine, GABA, myo-inositol, choline, N-acetyl aspartate, and creatine in HC, and N-acetyl aspartate in NAC. Significant interactions between time, treatment, and sex were detected for GABA, N-acetyl aspartate, taurine, and choline in HC. The number of inter-metabolite correlations increased significantly in ACC and decreased in NAC and HC in females after nicotine administration, while in males it was unchanged. Th...
Source: Neuroscience Research - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research