Scientists have pinpointed a source of nicotine craving in the brain, opening up a new path towards drug treatments to help smokers kick their habit.
In experiments with mice and rats, US researchers mapped the functioning of a gene called CHRNA5 that has been previously linked to nicotine addiction.
The scientists say a normal version of the gene will block nicotine consumption, but when a small sub-unit of the receptor was knocked out in mice, the negative message was never sent and the rodents couldn’t get enough of the drug.
The research was carried out by the Scripps Research Institute in Florida and is published online in the journal Nature.
Researchers have now received funding from the National Institute of Drug Abuse to design a new category of drugs to combat nicotine addiction.
Sky News