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Pharmacopsychiatry 2007; 40(2): 64-67
DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-970144
Original Paper

© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Regional Cerebral Glutamate Concentrations and Chronic Tobacco Consumption

J. Gallinat 1 , F. Schubert 2
  • 1Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Charité Universitätsmedizin, Campus Mitte, Berlin, Germany
  • 2Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Berlin, Germany
Further Information

Publication History

received 11. 10. 06 revised 05. 01. 07

accepted 12. 01. 07

Publication Date:
19 April 2007 (online)

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Abstract

Introduction: Increasing evidence indicates a crucial role of glutamate in the brain reward system and nicotine addiction. Because the pertinent models involve frontal and hippocampal glutamatergic projections, our goal was to investigate cerebral glutamate concentrations in healthy subjects with different smoking behavior.

Methods: Glutamate was measured with proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy at 3 tesla in the left hippocampus and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in 13 chronic tobacco smokers, 9 former smokers, and 16 never-smokers using a dedicated quantification method.

Results: Glutamate concentrations did not differ between groups in either voxel (F=1.151, df=2, P=0.340). No significant correlations between glutamate concentrations and age of smoking onset, daily cigarette consumption, or lifetime exposure to tobacco smoke (pack-years) were observed.

Conclusion: Our findings do not support a crucial role of cingulate or hippocampal glutamate concentration in chronic tobacco consumption. Besides group differences potentially gone unnoticed due to the limited sample size, however, these results cannot rule out dysfunctional glutamatergic neurotransmission or glutamate dysfunctions in other brain regions of smokers.

Key words

smoking - MR spectroscopy - glutamate - hippocampus - anterior cingulate - addiction

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Correspondence

Dr. F. Schubert

Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt

Abbestr. 2-12

10587 Berlin

Germany

Phone: +00/49/30/3481 74 77

Fax: +00/49/30/3481 75 05

Email: florian.schubert@ptb.de

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