Study Helps Confirm Role of Kynurenic Acid in Schizophrenia and Why Smoking Relieves Symptoms
KYNA acts on molecules called nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, the receptors affected by smoking. People with schizophrenia smoke much more than people in the general population, which has suggested that they use nicotine as a form of self-medication. Dr. Bucci and his team have shown that that acute nicotine administration in laboratory rats reduced their KYNA levels.
Dr. Bucci wrote: “It is interesting to consider the possibility that cigarette smoking may be used by those with schizophrenia to attenuate cognitive and sensory deficits. Future studies in rat models should examine the capacity for nicotine treatment to reduce the deficits produced by upregulation of brain KYNA.”
(This article was adapted with permission from Elsevier, publisher of Behavioural Brain Research.)
Link to article: http://www.narsad.org/news/press/rg_2009/res2009-06-15.html
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