Journal
REVIEWS IN THE NEUROSCIENCES
Volume 32, Issue 1, Pages 79-91Publisher
WALTER DE GRUYTER GMBH
DOI: 10.1515/revneuro-2020-0044
Keywords
addiction; BDNF; nAChRs; nicotine; TrkB
Categories
Funding
- Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation [2019JJ40250]
- National Science Foundation of China [NSFC 81301144]
- Research Learning and Innovative Experiment Project for University Students of University of South China [2018XJX377]
- Outstanding Youth Project of Hunan Education Department [18B262, 19B475]
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Smoking, a major preventable cause of death worldwide, is associated with nicotine addiction, which is considered a serious public health issue. The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays a crucial role in nicotine dependence, as its expression in the brain is affected by nicotine.
Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death worldwide and tobacco addiction has become a serious public health problem. Nicotine is the main addictive component of tobacco, and the majority of people that smoke regularly develop nicotine dependence. Nicotine addiction is deemed to be a chronic mental disorder. Although it is well known that nicotine binds to the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) and activates the mesolimbic dopaminergic system (MDS) to generate the pleasant and rewarding effects, the molecular mechanisms of nicotine addiction are not fully understood. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is the most prevalent growth factor in the brain, which regulates neuron survival, differentiation, and synaptic plasticity, mainly through binding to the high affinity receptor tyrosine kinase receptor B (TrkB). BDNF gene polymorphisms are associated with nicotine dependence and blood BDNF levels are altered in smokers. In this review, we discussed the effects of nicotine on BDNF expression in the brain and summarized the underlying signaling pathways, which further indicated BDNF as a key regulator in nicotine dependence. Further studies that aim to understand the neurobiological mechanism of BDNF in nicotine addcition would provide a valuable reference for quitting smoking and developing the treatment of other addictive substances.
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