The National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Drug Abuse has awarded Duke Anesthesiology’s Sven-Eric Jordt, PhD, $2,900,402 from a multi-institutional five year R01 grant titled, “Assessing the Abuse Liability of 6-Methyl Nicotine.”
“The addictiveness and toxicity of unregulated nicotine analogues such as 6-methyl nicotine are not known. And yet, e-cigarettes containing nicotine analogues are widely available,” says Jordt, distinguished professor of anesthesiology and director of the Chemical Sensing, Pain and Inflammation Research Laboratory.
Electronic cigarette use throughout the nation and around the world remains the most prevalent form of nicotine use among adolescents and young adults and poses a significant public health concern.
An emerging issue in this area is the use of synthetic nicotine analogues in electronic cigarettes by manufacturers in order to bypass regulatory considerations focusing on nicotine alone.
This project, co-led by contact principal investigator M. Imad Damaj, PhD, of Virginia Commonwealth University, will test the hypothesis that one such analog, 6-methyl nicotine, is biologically, pharmacologically and behaviorally similar to nicotine, with potentially increased risk of dependence and toxicity in animal models. The investigators will pursue three aims: 1) determine the rewarding and aversive properties of 6-methyl nicotine and compare it to nicotine, 2) compare the abuse liability of 6-methyl nicotine and nicotine in translationally validated rodent behavioral models, and 3) compare the pharmacokinetic profile and associated parameters of 6- methyl nicotine and nicotine in mice.
The findings from this study will have direct and immediate translational value to inform public health, public policy and regulatory decisions.