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Drug and Alcohol Dependence Oct 2015Although nicotine is the primary reinforcing constituent in cigarettes, there is evidence that other constituents in cigarette smoke may interact with nicotine to...
INTRODUCTION
Although nicotine is the primary reinforcing constituent in cigarettes, there is evidence that other constituents in cigarette smoke may interact with nicotine to reinforce smoking behavior.
METHODS
The present experiments investigated whether a novel combination of these cigarette smoke constituents would increase nicotine self-administration in adult male rats. The constituents included five minor alkaloids (anabasine, nornicotine, cotinine, myosmine, and anatabine), two β-carbolines (harman and norharman), and acetaldehyde. All doses were indexed to be proportional to concentrations in cigarette smoke given a standard dose of nicotine used in rodent self-administration, or ten times higher than this standard. To model MAO inhibition seen in chronic smokers, some groups received separate injections of tranylcypromine prior to each self-administration session.
RESULTS
Tranylcypromine increased low-dose nicotine self-administration independent of other smoke constituents, which had no effect on self-administration behavior. The effect of tranylcypromine was confirmed across a large range of reinforcement schedules. The effect of tranylcypromine on low-dose nicotine self-administration was observed regardless of whether the injection was delivered 1-h or 23-h prior to the self-administration session, consistent with the interpretation that MAO inhibition was responsible for the increase in self-administration, instead of acute off-target effects.
CONCLUSIONS
These data suggest that this cocktail of constituents does not significantly alter the primary reinforcing effects of nicotine, but constituents that inhibit MAO may increase the primary reinforcing effects of nicotine, especially at low doses.
Topics: Acetaldehyde; Alkaloids; Animals; Carbolines; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Male; Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors; Nicotine; Rats; Reinforcement Schedule; Self Administration; Tranylcypromine
PubMed: 26257022
DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2015.07.002 -
Scientific Reports Jul 2015While honey bee exposure to systemic insecticides has received much attention, impacts on wild pollinators have not been as widely studied. Neonicotinoids have been...
While honey bee exposure to systemic insecticides has received much attention, impacts on wild pollinators have not been as widely studied. Neonicotinoids have been shown to increase acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in honey bees at sublethal doses. High AChE levels may therefore act as a biomarker of exposure to neonicotinoids. This two-year study focused on establishing whether bumble bees living and foraging in agricultural areas using neonicotinoid crop protection show early biochemical signs of intoxication. Bumble bee colonies (Bombus impatiens) were placed in two different agricultural cropping areas: 1) control (≥ 3 km from fields planted with neonicotinoid-treated seeds) or 2) exposed (within 500 m of fields planted with neonicotinoid-treated seeds), and maintained for the duration of corn sowing. As determined by Real Time qPCR, AChE mRNA expression was initially significantly higher in bumble bees from exposed sites, then decreased throughout the planting season to reach a similar endpoint to that of bumble bees from control sites. These findings suggest that exposure to neonicotinoid seed coating particles during the planting season can alter bumble bee neuronal activity. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report in situ that bumble bees living in agricultural areas exhibit signs of neonicotinoid intoxication.
Topics: Acetylcholinesterase; Anabasine; Animals; Bees; Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; Insect Proteins; Seeds; Zea mays
PubMed: 26223214
DOI: 10.1038/srep12636 -
PloS One 2015This article presents results of an analysis of honey bee losses over the winter of 2011-2012 in the Netherlands, from a sample of 86 colonies, located at 43 apiaries....
This article presents results of an analysis of honey bee losses over the winter of 2011-2012 in the Netherlands, from a sample of 86 colonies, located at 43 apiaries. The apiaries were selected using spatially stratified random sampling. Colony winter loss data were collected and related to various measures of colony strength recorded in summer, as well as data from laboratory analysis of sample material taken from two selected colonies in each of the 43 apiaries. The logistic regression model which best explained the risk of winter loss included, in order of statistical importance, the variables (1) Varroa destructor mite infestation rate in October 2011, (2) presence of the cyano-substituted neonicotinoids acetamiprid or thiacloprid in the first 2 weeks of August 2011 in at least one of the honey bee matrices honey, bees or bee bread (pollen), (3) presence of Brassica napus (oilseed rape) or Sinapis arvensis (wild mustard) pollen in bee bread in early August 2011, and (4) a measure of the unexplained winter losses for the postal code area where the colonies were located, obtained from a different dataset. We consider in the discussion that reduced opportunities for foraging in July and August because of bad weather may have added substantially to the adverse effects of acetamiprid and thiacloprid. A novel feature of this work is its use of postal code random effects from two other independent datasets collected in the annual national monitoring by questionnaires of winter losses of honey bees in the Netherlands. These were used to plan the sample selection and also in the model fitting of the data in this study. It should however be noted that the results of the present pilot study are based on limited data, which may consequently reveal strong factors but fail to demonstrate possible interaction effects.
Topics: Anabasine; Animals; Bees; Colony Collapse; Confidence Intervals; Models, Theoretical; Netherlands; Odds Ratio; Pesticides; Risk Factors; Species Specificity; Varroidae
PubMed: 26154346
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0131611 -
Scientific Reports Jun 2015Pyridine-type alkaloids are most common in Nicotiana species. To study the effect of alkaloid composition on bacterial community composition in floral nectar, we...
Pyridine-type alkaloids are most common in Nicotiana species. To study the effect of alkaloid composition on bacterial community composition in floral nectar, we compared the nicotine-rich wild type (WT) N. attenuata, the nicotine biosynthesis-silenced N. attenuata that was rich in anatabine and the anabasine-rich WT N. glauca plants. We found that the composition of these secondary metabolites in the floral nectar drastically affected the bacterial community richness, diversity and composition. Significant differences were found between the bacterial community compositions in the nectar of the three plants with a much greater species richness and diversity in the nectar from the transgenic plant. The highest community composition similarity index was detected between the two wild type plants. The different microbiome composition and diversity, caused by the different pyridine-type alkaloid composition, could modify the nutritional content of the nectar and consequently, may contribute to the change in the nectar consumption and visitation. These may indirectly have an effect on plant fitness.
Topics: Alkaloids; Bacteria; Phylogeny; Plant Nectar; Plants, Genetically Modified; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Principal Component Analysis; Pyridines; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Nicotiana
PubMed: 26122961
DOI: 10.1038/srep11536 -
Drug and Alcohol Dependence Aug 2015While nicotine is the primary addictive compound in tobacco, other tobacco constituents including minor alkaloids (e.g., nornicotine, anabasine) may also contribute to...
BACKGROUND
While nicotine is the primary addictive compound in tobacco, other tobacco constituents including minor alkaloids (e.g., nornicotine, anabasine) may also contribute to tobacco addiction by mimicking or enhancing the effects of nicotine. Further evaluating the behavioral effects of minor alkaloids is essential for understanding their impact on tobacco addiction and informing development of tobacco product standards by the FDA.
METHODS
This study compared the addiction-related effects of nicotine and the minor alkaloids nornicotine, anabasine, myosmine, anatabine, and cotinine on intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) thresholds in rats.
RESULTS
Acute injection of nicotine produced reinforcement-enhancing (ICSS threshold-decreasing) effects at low to moderate doses, and reinforcement-attenuating/aversive (ICSS threshold-increasing) effects at high doses. Nornicotine and anabasine produced similar biphasic effects on ICSS thresholds, although with lower potency compared to nicotine. Myosmine only elevated ICSS thresholds at relatively high doses, while anatabine and cotinine did not influence ICSS thresholds at any dose. None of the alkaloids significantly influenced ICSS response latencies, indicating a lack of nonspecific motoric effects.
CONCLUSIONS
These findings indicate that some minor tobacco alkaloids can either fully (nornicotine, anabasine) or partially (myosmine) mimic nicotine's addiction-related effects on ICSS, albeit at reduced potency. These findings emphasize the need for further study of the abuse potential of minor alkaloids, including evaluation of their effects when combined with nicotine and other tobacco constituents to better simulate tobacco exposure in humans. Such work is essential for informing FDA regulation of tobacco products and could also lead to the development of novel pharmacotherapies for tobacco addiction.
Topics: Alkaloids; Anabasine; Animals; Brain; Cotinine; Male; Nicotine; Pyridines; Rats; Self Stimulation
PubMed: 26094184
DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2015.06.005 -
Proceedings. Biological Sciences Mar 2015The synthesis of secondary metabolites is a hallmark of plant defence against herbivores. These compounds may be detrimental to consumers, but can also protect...
The synthesis of secondary metabolites is a hallmark of plant defence against herbivores. These compounds may be detrimental to consumers, but can also protect herbivores against parasites. Floral nectar commonly contains secondary metabolites, but little is known about the impacts of nectar chemistry on pollinators, including bees. We hypothesized that nectar secondary metabolites could reduce bee parasite infection. We inoculated individual bumblebees with Crithidia bombi, an intestinal parasite, and tested effects of eight naturally occurring nectar chemicals on parasite population growth. Secondary metabolites strongly reduced parasite load, with significant effects of alkaloids, terpenoids and iridoid glycosides ranging from 61 to 81%. Using microcolonies, we also investigated costs and benefits of consuming anabasine, the compound with the strongest effect on parasites, in infected and uninfected bees. Anabasine increased time to egg laying, and Crithidia reduced bee survival. However, anabasine consumption did not mitigate the negative effects of Crithidia, and Crithidia infection did not alter anabasine consumption. Our novel results highlight that although secondary metabolites may not rescue survival in infected bees, they may play a vital role in mediating Crithidia transmission within and between colonies by reducing Crithidia infection intensities.
Topics: Alkaloids; Anabasine; Animals; Bees; Crithidia; Disease Resistance; Glycosides; Host-Parasite Interactions; Plant Nectar; Secondary Metabolism; Terpenes
PubMed: 25694627
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2014.2471 -
F1000Research 2015Secondary metabolites in floral nectar have been shown to reduce parasite load in two common bumble bee species. Previous studies on the effects of nectar secondary...
Secondary metabolites in floral nectar have been shown to reduce parasite load in two common bumble bee species. Previous studies on the effects of nectar secondary metabolites on parasitized bees have focused on single compounds in isolation; however, in nature, bees are simultaneously exposed to multiple compounds. We tested for interactions between the effects of two alkaloids found in the nectar of Nicotiana spp. plants, nicotine and anabasine, on parasite load and mortality in bumble bees ( Bombus impatiens) infected with the intestinal parasite Crithidia bombi. Adult worker bees inoculated with C. bombi were fed nicotine and anabasine diet treatments in a factorial design, resulting in four nectar treatment combinations: 2 ppm nicotine, 5 ppm anabasine, 2ppm nicotine and 5 ppm anabasine together, or a control alkaloid-free solution. We conducted the experiment twice: first, with bees incubated under variable environmental conditions ('Variable'; temperatures varied from 10-35°C with ambient lighting); and second, under carefully controlled environmental conditions ('Stable'; 27°C incubator, constant darkness). In 'Variable', each alkaloid alone significantly decreased parasite loads, but this effect was not realized with the alkaloids in combination, suggesting an antagonistic interaction. Nicotine but not anabasine significantly increased mortality, and the two compounds had no interactive effects on mortality. In 'Stable', nicotine significantly increased parasite loads, the opposite of its effect in 'Variable'. While not significant, the relationship between anabasine and parasite loads was also positive. Interactive effects between the two alkaloids on parasite load were non-significant, but the pattern of antagonistic interaction was similar to that in the variable experiment. Neither alkaloid, nor their interaction, significantly affected mortality under controlled conditions. Our results do not indicate synergy between Nicotiana nectar alkaloids; however, they do suggest a complex interaction between secondary metabolites, parasites, and environmental variables, in which secondary metabolites can be either toxic or medicinal depending on context.
PubMed: 26998225
DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.6870.2 -
Nature Communications Nov 2014Non-aromatic nitrogen- and oxygen-containing heterocycles such as piperidines and pyrans are prevalent components of natural products and pharmaceutical drugs. Although...
Non-aromatic nitrogen- and oxygen-containing heterocycles such as piperidines and pyrans are prevalent components of natural products and pharmaceutical drugs. Although it has been a workhorse as a synthetic method for assembling unsaturated sp(2)-hybridized substrates, transition metal-catalysed cross-coupling chemistry is traditionally not a suitable approach to prepare chiral non-aromatic heterocycles. Several mechanistic issues hamper the coupling of stereogenic secondary sp(3)-hybridized carbon-metal centres. Moreover, use of unsymmetrical allylic boronates in the Suzuki Miyaura cross-coupling is further complicated by the possibility of forming two regioisomeric products. Here we address this two-pronged problem and demonstrate that chiral enantiomerically enriched heterocyclic allylic boronates can be coupled with high stereochemical retention with a wide variety of aryl and alkenyl halides to independently afford both regioisomeric 2- and 4-substituted dihydropyrans and dehydropiperidines in high selectivity. A divergent mechanism is proposed where regiochemistry is governed by the nature of the ligands on the palladium catalyst. This scalable method is applied to the efficient preparation of the neuroactive alkaloid anabasine and the antidepressant drug paroxetine.
Topics: Anabasine; Catalysis; Ligands; Molecular Structure; Palladium; Paroxetine; Stereoisomerism
PubMed: 25403650
DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6474 -
PloS One 2014Alkaloids play a key role in higher plant defense against pathogens and herbivores. Following its biosynthesis in root tissues, nicotine, the major alkaloid of Nicotiana...
Alkaloids play a key role in higher plant defense against pathogens and herbivores. Following its biosynthesis in root tissues, nicotine, the major alkaloid of Nicotiana species, is translocated via xylem transport toward the accumulation sites, leaf vacuoles. Our transcriptome analysis of methyl jasmonate-treated tobacco BY-2 cells identified several multidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE) transporter genes. In this study, we characterized a MATE gene, Nicotiana tabacum jasmonate-inducible alkaloid transporter 2 (Nt-JAT2), which encodes a protein that has 32% amino acid identity with Nt-JAT1. Nt-JAT2 mRNA is expressed at a very low steady state level in whole plants, but is rapidly upregulated by methyl jasmonate treatment in a leaf-specific manner. To characterize the function of Nt-JAT2, yeast cells were used as the host organism in a cellular transport assay. Nt-JAT2 was localized at the plasma membrane in yeast cells. When incubated in nicotine-containing medium, the nicotine content in Nt-JAT2-expressing cells was significantly lower than in control yeast. Nt-JAT2-expressing cells also showed lower content of other alkaloids like anabasine and anatabine, but not of flavonoids, suggesting that Nt-JAT2 transports various alkaloids including nicotine. Fluorescence assays in BY-2 cells showed that Nt-JAT2-GFP was localized to the tonoplast. These findings indicate that Nt-JAT2 is involved in nicotine sequestration in leaf vacuoles following the translocation of nicotine from root tissues.
Topics: Acetates; Alkaloids; Anabasine; Cell Membrane; Cyclopentanes; Flavonoids; Gene Expression Profiling; Nicotine; Oxylipins; Phylogeny; Plant Cells; Plant Leaves; Plant Proteins; Plant Roots; Pyridines; RNA, Messenger; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Nicotiana; Up-Regulation; Vacuoles
PubMed: 25268729
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0108789 -
Journal of Psychopharmacology (Oxford,... Oct 2014Nicotine has been well characterized to improve memory and attention. Nicotine is the primary, but not only neuroactive compound in tobacco. Other tobacco constituents...
Nicotine has been well characterized to improve memory and attention. Nicotine is the primary, but not only neuroactive compound in tobacco. Other tobacco constituents such as anabasine and anatabine also have agonist actions on nicotinic receptors. The current study investigated the effects of anabasine and anatabine on memory and attention. Adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were trained on a win-shift spatial working and reference memory task in the 16-arm radial maze or a visual signal detection operant task to test attention. Acute dose-effect functions of anabasine and anatabine over two orders of magnitude were evaluated for both tasks. In the radial-arm maze memory test, anabasine but not anatabine significantly reduced the memory impairment caused by the NMDA antagonist dizocilpine (MK-801). In the signal detection attentional task, anatabine but not anabasine significantly attenuated the attentional impairment caused by dizocilpine. These studies show that non-nicotine nicotinic agonists in tobacco, similar to nicotine, can significantly improve memory and attentional function. Both anabasine and anatabine produced cognitive improvement, but their effectiveness differed with regard to memory and attention. Follow-up studies with anabasine and anatabine are called for to determine their efficacy as therapeutics for memory and attentional dysfunction.
Topics: Alkaloids; Anabasine; Animals; Attention; Conditioning, Operant; Dizocilpine Maleate; Female; Maze Learning; Memory; Nicotinic Agonists; Nootropic Agents; Pyridines; Rats; Smoke; Nicotiana
PubMed: 25122040
DOI: 10.1177/0269881114543721