Stimulant-like action of nicotine on striatal dopamine transporter in the brain of adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

• Published in: The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology Vol. 5; no. 2; pp. 111 - 113
• Main Authors: Krause, Klaus-Henning, Dresel, Stefan H., Krause, Johanna, Kung, Hank F., Tatsch, Klaus, Ackenheil, Manfred
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.06.2002; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - metabolism; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - psychology; Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; Female; Ganglionic Stimulants - pharmacology; Humans; Male; Membrane Glycoproteins; Membrane Transport Proteins - metabolism; Middle Aged; Neostriatum - drug effects; Neostriatum - metabolism; Nerve Tissue Proteins; Nicotine - pharmacology; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; RAPID COMMUNICATION; Smoking - metabolism; Stimulation, Chemical; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon; nicotine; Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); dopamine transporter; single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT); TRODAT-1
• ISSN: 1461-1457; 1469-5111
• DOI: 10.1017/S1461145702002821

Eleven adult patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) without medication, consuming 7–40 cigarettes per day, showed statistically significant lower values for striatal dopamine transporter (DAT) measured by [99mTc]TRODAT-1 SPECT compared to 11 non-smoking drug-naive patients with ADHD, matched for sex and age, despite higher ADHD scores for the smokers. Because stimulants have been shown to reduce primarily elevated DAT density in adults with ADHD, it can be suggested that nicotine acts in a similar way on striatal DAT as do stimulants.