Anyone on this forum uses nicotine to help with anhedonia, or other negative symptoms, as a long-term solution?? I was thinking of buying an e-cigarette to see if it does anything to my anhedonia?
From article 1 below, nicotine has been used by some people to help with anhedonia and negative symptoms.
From article 2 below, chronic nicotine treatment increases endocannabinoid levels in limbic regions.
From article 3 below, Cannabinoid CB1 receptors are involved in motivational effects of nicotine in rats, and also, nicotine administration ultimately stimulates the release of dopamine in the dorsal and ventral striatal terminals, notably the NAc (which is the abbreviation of Nucleus Accumbens).
From article 4 below, CB1 receptor is related to negative symptoms, at least in drug-free patients.
From article 5 below, tobacco smoking has an effect on CB1 receptors.
Article 1: Nicotine: abused substance and therapeutic agent
Article 2
C Cohen, E Kodas and G Griebel,
Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior , Jun 2005
Tobacco smoking is the largest cause of avoidable death and disease in developed countries. It is now viewed as a complex bio-psycho-social problem for which effective pharmacological treatments are needed. Nicotine is considered to be the primary compound of tobacco smoke that establishes and maintains tobacco dependence. The addictive effect of nicotine is mediated by activation of the mesolimbic system and the release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens. Recently, the existence of a specific functional interaction between nicotine and the endocannabinoid system has been reported. Co-administration of sub-threshold doses of a cannabinoid agonist and nicotine produces rewarding effects and chronic nicotine treatment increases endocannabinoid levels in limbic regions. The CB1 receptor plays a key role in this interaction. CB1 knockout mice are less sensitive to the motivational effects of nicotine although this depends on the experimental model. The selective CB1 antagonist, rimonabant (SR141716), reduces nicotine self-administration and nicotine-seeking behavior induced by conditioned cues in rats. Rimonabant appears to reduce nicotine addiction by attenuating the hyperactivation of the endocannabinoid system and the mesolimbic dopaminergic neuronal pathway. Rimonabant may be considered as a potential alternative to the current substitutive treatments of nicotine addiction and may offer a new hope for the treatment of smokers who wish to quit.
Article 3
Article 4
J Ceccarini, M De Hert, R Van Winkel, J Peuskens, G Bormans, L Kranaster, F Enning, D Koethe, FM Leweke and K Van Laere,
NeuroImage , Oct 2013 01
Increasing animal genetic, post-mortem and pharmacological evidence supports a role for the cerebral type 1 cannabinoid (CB1) receptor in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia (SCZ) and/or neural circuit dysfunctions responsible for its symptomatology. Moreover, since important interspecies differences are present in CB1 receptor expression, in vivo human data are of direct interest. We investigated an in vivo CB1 receptor expression in SCZ patients compared to healthy controls (CON), and in relation with psychopathological symptom severity using positron emission tomography (PET) and the selective high-affinity radioligand [(18)F]MK-9470. A total of sixty-seven patients with SCZ, with (SCZ-T, n=51) and without (SCZ-F, n=16) antipsychotic treatment, and 12 age and gender-matched CON were investigated with [(18)F]MK-9470 PET. Parametric modified standardized uptake value (mSUV) images, reflecting CB1 receptor binding, were compared and related to psychopathological symptoms. Compared to CON, there was a significant increase of CB1 receptor binding in SCZ patients in the nucleus accumbens, insula, cingulate cortex, inferior frontal cortex, parietal and mediotemporal lobe. Furthermore, in the SCZ-F group only, CB1 receptor binding was negatively correlated to negative symptoms and to depression scores, especially in the nucleus accumbens. Present findings strongly support that CB1 receptor binding is altered in the mesocorticolimbic circuitry of both SCZ-T and SCZ-F patients, especially in the nucleus accumbens. In SCZ-F patients, it is associated with negative symptoms and depression scores.
Article 5 : Decreased brain cannabinoid CB1 receptor binding in tobacco smokers examined with positron emission tomography http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/55/supplement_1/84.abstract