Transdermal Nicotine Maintenance Attenuates the Subjective and Reinforcing Effects of Intravenous Nicotine, but not Cocaine or Caffeine, in Cigarette-Smoking Stimulant Abusers

Abstract

The effects of transdermal nicotine maintenance on the subjective, reinforcing, and cardiovascular effects of intravenously administered cocaine, caffeine, and nicotine were examined using double-blind procedures in nine volunteers with histories of using tobacco, caffeine, and cocaine. Each participant was exposed to two chronic drug maintenance phases (21 mg/day nicotine transdermal patch and placebo transdermal patch). Within each drug phase, the participant received intravenous injections of placebo, cocaine (15 and 30 mg/70 kg), caffeine (200 and 400 mg/70 kg), and nicotine (1.0 and 2.0 mg/70 kg) in mixed order across days. Subjective and cardiovascular data were collected before and repeatedly after drug or placebo injection. Reinforcing effects were also assessed after each injection with a Drug vs Money Multiple-Choice Form. Intravenous cocaine produced robust dose-related increases in subjective and reinforcing effects; these effects were not altered by nicotine maintenance. Intravenous caffeine produced elevations on several subjective ratings; nicotine maintenance did not affect these ratings. Under the placebo maintenance condition, intravenous nicotine produced robust dose-related subjective effects, with maximal increases similar to the high dose of cocaine; nicotine maintenance significantly decreased the subjective and reinforcing effects of intravenous nicotine. The results of the present study demonstrate that chronic nicotine maintenance produces tolerance to the effects of intravenous nicotine, but does not affect the subjective or reinforcing effects of cocaine or caffeine.

Cocaine administration dose-dependently increases sexual desire and decreases condom use likelihood: The role of delay and probability discounting in connecting cocaine with HIV

“…This ensured that participants who were smokers had completed all discounting tasks within ~2 hours of smoking to minimize the potential effects of nicotine withdrawal on study outcome measures. Moreover, previous human research suggests no interaction between nicotine maintenance vs. abstinence on cocaine subjective effects (Sobel et al, 2004). …”

An overview of alcohol and tobacco/nicotine interactions in the human laboratory

“…In human laboratory studies, cocaine administration demonstrated increased rates of cigarette smoking (58, 59), and acute nicotine dosing by transdermal nicotine patch (22 mg) increased cue-induced cocaine craving in individuals with a history of cocaine use (60). Mixed findings also demonstrate a decrease or no change in subjective effects of cocaine following pretreatment with nicotine patch in occasional and heavy cocaine users, respectively (61, 62). More recently, a human laboratory study demonstrated that cocaine users exhibit an orienting, but not attentional, bias towards cigarette cues versus non-cocaine users, and that cocaine users demonstrate increased urge to smoke cigarettes for negative reinforcement versus non-users (63).…”

Clinical laboratory assessment of the abuse liability of an electronic cigarette

“…The MCP has been validated with tobacco products and nicotine [17, 18, 19, 20, 21], corresponds with other measures of reinforcement [16, 17], is sensitive to manipulation of study parameters (e.g., smoking deprivation, smoking cues) [17, 18], and can be used to determine the reinforcing efficacy of cigarettes/nicotine relative to other drugs, doses, or combinations (e.g. relative abuse liability) [19, 20, 21]. With the MCP, participants sample the novel drug and then make two or more discrete choices between it and 1) another drug/preparation or 2) a series of monetary values [16].…”