Dose Dependence of Acute Nicotine on Neurometabolic Activity in Mouse Brain

Motivation: Nicotine addiction is a neuropsychiatric disorder with worldwide deaths. Nicotine affects dopaminergic system. However, the dose dependent effect of nicotine on neurometabolic activity is not clear. Goal(s): To evaluate the impact of dose dependence of acute nicotine on the metabolic activity of glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons in the prefrontal cortex in mice. Approach: Different acute subcutaneous doses of nicotine were given to mice. Prefrontal cortex extracts were analysed by 1H-[13C]-NMR spectroscopy to quantify 13C labelled amino acids and rate of glucose oxidation in neurons. Results: Nicotine at low dose has excitatory but at high doses has inhibitory effect on neuronal activity in mice. Impact: Our data shows that nicotine at 0.025 mg/kg increases metabolic activity of glutamatergic neurons but at 1.0 and 2.0 mg/kg decreases. Additionally, nicotine at 1.0 and 2.0 mg/kg suppresses metabolic activity of GABAergic neurons.