0000000000122362
AUTHOR
Katja N. Spreckelmeyer
Neurocognitive impairments in non-deprived smokers-results from a population-based multi-center study on smoking-related behavior
The aim of the present study was to examine neurocognitive function associated with chronic nicotine use. A total of 2163 healthy participants (1002 smokers, 1161 never-smoking controls) participated in a population-based case- control design.The main outcome measures were six cognitive domain factors derived from a neuropsychological test battery. In smokers, the battery was administered after controlled smoking of one cigarette. Analyses included age, sex and education as covariates. Results demonstrated small, but significant deficits in smokers for visual attention (P < 0.001) and cognitive impulsivity (P < 0.006), while verbal episodic memory, verbal fluency, verbal working memory, and…
The P300 event-related potential and smoking--a population-based case-control study.
A better understanding of the factors underlying habitual tobacco smoking may further new strategies to go about this major health problem. The P300 event-related potential (ERP) has emerged as a valuable (endo)phenotype in neuropsychiatric research. Previous studies suggested the P300 ERP to be reduced in smokers. The main purpose of the present study was to provide an in-depth description of smoking-related behavioral, biological and electrophysiological phenotypes with an emphasis on the P300 ERP and its mutual relationship with other smoking-related parameters. In this case-control study N=1318 participants (smokers and never-smoking controls) were investigated at 6 German academic inst…
Psychological and hormonal features of smokers at risk to gain weight after smoking cessation--results of a multicenter study.
Preclinical and clinical data suggest modulating effects of appetite-regulating hormones and stress perception on food intake. Nicotine intake also interferes with regulation of body weight. Especially following smoking cessation gaining weight is a common but only partially understood consequence. The aim of this study was to examine the interaction between smoking habits, the appetite regulating hormone leptin, negative affectivity, and stress vulnerability on eating behavior in a clinical case-control study under standardized conditions. In a large population-based study sample, we compared leptin and cortisol plasma concentrations (radioimmunoassay) between current tobacco smokers with …
Opiate-induced dopamine release is modulated by severity of alcohol dependence: an [(18)F]fallypride positron emission tomography study.
Background Preclinical data implicate the reinforcing effects of alcohol to be mediated by interaction between the opioid and dopamine systems of the brain. Specifically, alcohol-induced release of β-endorphins stimulates μ-opioid receptors (MORs), which is believed to cause dopamine release in the brain reward system. Individual differences in opioid or dopamine neurotransmission have been suggested to be responsible for enhanced liability to abuse alcohol. In the present study, a single dose of the MOR agonist remifentanil was administered in detoxified alcohol-dependent patients and healthy control subjects to mimic the β-endorphin-releasing properties of ethanol and to assess the effect…
Replication of the association between CHRNA4 rs1044396 and harm avoidance in a large population-based sample.
Harm avoidance is a personality trait characterized by excessive worrying and fear of uncertainty, which has repeatedly been related to anxiety disorders. Converging lines of research in rodents and humans point towards an involvement of the nicotinic cholinergic system in the modulation of anxiety. Most notably, the rs1044396 polymorphism in the CHRNA4 gene, which codes for the α4 subunit of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, has been linked to negative emotionality traits including harm avoidance in a recent study. Against this background, we investigated the association between harm avoidance and the rs1044396 polymorphism using data from N=1673 healthy subjects, which were collected …
Striatal and extrastriatal D2/D3-receptor-binding properties of ziprasidone: a positron emission tomography study with [18F]Fallypride and [11C]raclopride (D2/D3-receptor occupancy of ziprasidone).
To elucidate the Batypicality( of ziprasidone, its striatal and extrastriatal D2/D3-receptor binding was characterized in patients with schizophrenia under steady-state conditions. These data were compared with striatal receptor occupancy values after single-dose ziprasidone ingestion in healthy controls. ( 18 F)fallypride positron emission tomography (PET) recordings were obtained in 15 patients under steady-state ziprasidone treatment at varying time points after the last dose. Binding potentials were calculated for striatal and extrastriatal regions. D2/D3-receptor occupancies were expressed relative to binding potentials in 8 unmedicated patients. In a parallel ( 11 C)raclopride-PET stu…
The German multi-centre study on smoking-related behavior-description of a population-based case-control study
Tobacco smoking is a major risk factor for most of the diseases leading in mortality. Nicotine dependence (ND), which sustains regular smoking, is now acknowledged to be under substantial genetic control with some environmental contribution. At present, however, genetic studies on ND are mostly conducted in populations that have been poorly characterized with regard to ND-related phenotypes for the simple reason that the respective populations were not primarily collected to study ND. The German multi-centre study 'Genetics of Nicotine Dependence and Neurobiological Phenotypes', which is funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) as part of the Priority …
P50 sensory gating and smoking in the general population
P50 gating is a major functional biomarker in research on schizophrenia and other psychiatric conditions with high smoking prevalence. It is used as endophenotype for studying nicotinic systems genetics and as surrogate endpoint measure for drug development of nicotinic agonists. Surprisingly, little is known about P50 gating in the general population and the relationship to smoking-related characteristics. In this multicenter study at six academic institutions throughout Germany, n = 907 never-smokers (NS < 20 cigarettes/lifetime), n = 463 light smokers (LS) with Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) ≥ 4 and n = 353 heavy smokers (HS, FTND < 4) were randomly selected from the gene…