Open label smoking cessation with varenicline is associated with decreased glutamate levels and functional changes in anterior cingulate cortex: preliminary findings.

ABSTRACT:

Rationale

Varenicline, the most effective single agent for smoking cessation, is a partial agonist at α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Increasing evidence implicates glutamate in the pathophysiology of addiction and one of the benefits of treatment for smoking cessation is the ability to regain cognitive control.

Objective

To evaluate the effects of 12-week varenicline administration on glutamate levels in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and functional changes within the cognitive control network.

Methods

We used single-voxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS) in the dACC and functional MRI (fMRI) during performance of a Stroop color-naming task before and after smoking cessation with varenicline in 11 healthy smokers (open label desi

SUBMITTER: Wheelock MD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4085720 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature