DOI: 10.2174/011570159x444553260612074713 ISSN: 1570-159X
Tobacco and Nicotine Dependence Vulnerability as a Function of Dopaminergic Dysregulation: Proposing a Novel Strategy to Promote Neurotransmitter Homeostasis
Kenneth Blum, Kai Uwe Lewandrowski, Morgan P. Lorio, Kavya Mohankumar, Nicole Jafari, Foojan Zeine, Alireza Sharafshah, Keerthy Sunder, Milan Makale, Jag Khalsa, Panayotis K. Thanos, Siddharth Karthikeya, Mark S. GoldKey points • Individuals with depression and other mental illnesses are more likely to smoke cigarettes. • Cigarette smoking addictions can be combatted by approved therapies like nicotine patches, gum, lozenges, nasal spray, and inhalers. • Vaping has been proposed as a harm-reducing treatment for adult cigarette smokers, but evidence remains mixed. • Varenicline (Chantix) is a leading first-line therapy for cigarette smoking or nicotine vaping, via dopaminergic modulation.