The doctors found that the schizophrenic patients frequently used the smoking as self-medication to compensate for the deficits due to their illness or to relieve them of the heavy side effects of their treatment (lethargy, loss of motivation, etc.).
In a study Conducted on mice, researchers from the Institut Pasteur, CNRS and Inserm succeeded in deciphering the mode of action of nicotine on the cells of the prefrontal cortex of patients.
Under the influence of nicotine, cells resume normal activity
For their study, the researchers introduced the human CHRNA5 gene into mice in order to reproduce the characteristic brain deficits schizophrenia. Using an in vivo imaging technique, they were able to observe a reduced activity of the cells of the prefrontal cortex in mice carrying the CHRNA5 mutation. They also found that by giving them nicotine, the brain cells resumed normal activity.
“Repeated administration of nicotine restoring normal activity of the prefrontal cortex suggests a possible therapeutic target for the treatment of schizophrenia” says Uwe Maskos, lead author of the study.
The therapeutic molecule will then have to have the same form as nicotine without having its harmful effects (dependence, cellular aging, acceleration of cardiovascular activity, etc.).
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