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- Title
Reduced Thalamus Volume May Reflect Nicotine Severity in Young Male Smokers.
- Authors
Dahua Yu; Kai Yuan; Jiadong Cheng; Yanyan Guan; Yangding Li; Yanzhi Bi; Jinquan Zhai; Lin Luo; Bo Liu; Ting Xue; Xiaoqi Lu; Yu, Dahua; Yuan, Kai; Cheng, Jiadong; Guan, Yanyan; Li, Yangding; Bi, Yanzhi; Zhai, Jinquan; Luo, Lin; Liu, Bo
- Abstract
<bold>Introduction: </bold>Nicotine acts as an agonist at presynaptic nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and to facilitate synaptic release of several neurotransmitters including dopamine and glutamate. The thalamus has the highest density of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the brain, which may make this area more vulnerable to the addictive effects of nicotine. However, the volume of thalamus abnormalities and the association with smoking behaviors in young smokers remains unknown.<bold>Methods: </bold>Thirty-six young male smokers and 36 age-, gender- and education-matched nonsmokers participated in the current study. The nicotine dependence severity and cumulative effect were assessed with the Fagerström test for nicotine dependence (FTND) and pack-years. We used subcortical volume analyses method in FreeSurfer to investigate the thalamus volume differences between young smokers and nonsmokers. Correlation analysis was used to investigate the relationship between thalamus volume and smoking behaviors (pack-years and FTND) in young smokers.<bold>Results and Conclusions: </bold>Relative to nonsmokers, the young smokers showed reduced volume of bilateral thalamus. In addition, the left thalamus volume was correlated with FTND in young smokers. It is hoped that our findings can shed new insights into the neurobiology of young smokers.<bold>Implications: </bold>In this article, we investigated the changes of thalamus volume in young male smokers compared with nonsmokers. Reduced left thalamus volume was correlated with FTND in young smokers, which may reflect nicotine severity in young male smokers.
- Subjects
PHYSIOLOGICAL effects of nicotine; THALAMUS; NICOTINIC acetylcholine receptors; TOBACCO use among youth; NICOTINE addiction; NEUROTRANSMITTERS; DOPAMINE; ANATOMY
- Publication
Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 2018, Vol 20, Issue 4, p434
- ISSN
1462-2203
- Publication type
journal article
- DOI
10.1093/ntr/ntx146