Nicotine Found to Protect the Brain from Parkinson’s Disease

New research suggests that nicotine protects dopamine neurons in the brain, by activating the alpha-7 nicotinic receptor.

If one has ever questioned if smoking offered humanity any benefit, a new research report offers a surprising answer. Nicotine was shown to protect people from Parkinson’s disease, and the discovery of how nicotine does this may lead to entirely new types of treatments for the disease.

“This study raises the hope for a possible neuroprotective treatment of patients at an early step of the disease or even before at a stage where the disease has not been diagnosed according to motor criteria,” said Patrick P. Michel, coauthor of the study from the Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Épinière, Hôpital de la Salpêtrière (Paris, France). The study’s findings were published August 2011 in the FASEB Journal.

To make this finding, scientists utilized mice genetically engineered without a specific nicotine receptor (the alpha-7 subtype) and mice with a functional receptor. Using tissue from mouse embryos, researchers prepared brain cultures using conditions that support the slowly progressing loss of dopamine neurons, a hallmark of the disease. The scientists discovered that nicotine had the potential to salvage dopamine neurons in cultures from normal mice, but not in cultures from mice without the nicotine receptor. These findings suggest that it may be feasible to develop innovative therapies for Parkinson’s disease that target nicotine receptors, particularly the alpha-7 nicotine receptor.

“If you’re a smoker, don’t get too excited,” said Gerald Weissmann, MD, editor-in-chief of The FASEB Journal. “Even if smoking protects you from Parkinson’s, you might not live long enough to develop the disease because smoking greatly increases the risk for deadly cancers and cardiovascular diseases. But now, we should be able find nontoxic ways to hit the same target.”

Related Links:
Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Épinière