Same Genes May Underlie Alcohol and Nicotine Co-Abuse
This article discussed the possibility of genes determining the abuse of drugs such as Nicotine. A test was completed on two rats, one with genes corresponding with a supposed like for alcohol and nicotine, the other who did not prefer the drugs. It was found that the first test subject consumed more than double the amount of the other rat. This allowed researchers to conclude that the genetic difference between the rats caused different preferences for the rats. It is also verified that the rat with the desire for drugs was more susceptible to drug related problems like nicotine relapse.
But this desire for drugs wasn’t the same for other addictive resources like cocaine. Another experiment with levers that dispensed the drugs to the rats concluded this when both rats took about same amount of cocaine. So this concluded that the gene in the initial rat gave it susceptibility to nicotine and alcohol but no other drugs, which shows that a particular gene must be involved to help metabolise the drug that was found in the first but not the second rat. The researchers concluded that this proved that other genes are required for the susceptibility of other drugs like cocaine.
This experiment allowed more knowledge on addictions which can be applied to public health and rehabilitation initiatives.
References
- D. Lê, Z. Li, D. Funk, M. Shram, T. K. Li, and Y. Shaham Increased Vulnerability to Nicotine Self-Administration and Relapse in Alcohol-Naive Offspring of Rats Selectively Bred for High Alcohol Intake
- Ming D. Li & Margit Burmeister. New insights into the genetics of addiction. Nature Reviews Genetics, 2009; DOI: 10.1038/nrg2536
