Nicotine"Dopamine and Chantix
When nicotine enters the body, it attaches to receptor sites in the brain that then release dopamine. Dopamine (a hormone, neurotransmitter, and neurohormone) is associated with several sensations (pleasure, love, addiction, motivation) and important brain functions (behavior and cognition, motor activity, motivation and reward, sleep, mood, attention, and learning).[4]
The way Chantix works is to block the nicotine from attaching to the receptor sites (thus blocking the sensation of pleasure associated with smoking). Chantix also provides a low dose of dopamine to off-set the withdrawal symptoms (irritability, etc.).
When Pfizer obtained FDA approval for Chantix in May 2006, the FDA knew that the participants in the clinical trials did not include anyone with a psychiatric illness or a psychiatric illness history. I realize there is a push on the FDA to approve medications faster to get them to market. But these post-market psychiatric risk findings should not be surprising. Too much is already known and established about the role of dopamine in psychiatric illness treatment.
Dopamine→Psychiatric Illness:
The role of dopamine in treating psychiatric illness is well documented. A few examples:
•Antipsychotic medications are dopamine-lowering medications utilized for the treatment of both psychosis and schizophrenia.
•Risperdal (risperidone), a dopamine-reducing drug, is used for both bipolar disorder and major depression treatment.
•MAOI’s (Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors) are classified into two groups: MAO-A and MAO-B. The MAO-B, specifically, works as a dopamine-increasing medication. For both MAO classes, when taken in combination with any other medication that acts on epinephrine, norepinephrine or dopamine, they must be given at very low dosages in order to maintain their antidepressant effects.
•Some SNRI’s (Selective Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors) like Effexor can weakly inhibit the reuptake of dopamine. When taken at high dosages, other SNRI’s (Cymbalta) can also reuptake dopamine.
