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. 2012 Aug;15(7):989-94.
doi: 10.1017/S1461145711001957. Epub 2012 Jan 16.

Sex differences in striatal dopamine D2/D3 receptor availability in smokers and non-smokers

Amira K Brown  1 , Mark A Mandelkern, Judah Farahi, Chelsea Robertson, Dara G Ghahremani, Brittany Sumerel, Nathasha Moallem, Edythe D London
Affiliations

Sex differences in striatal dopamine D2/D3 receptor availability in smokers and non-smokers

Amira K Brown et al. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2012 Aug.

Abstract

In previous research, nicotine-dependent men exhibited lower putamen D2/D3 dopamine-receptor availability than non-smokers (Fehr et al. 2008), but parallel assessments were not performed in women. Women and men (19 light smokers, 18 non-smokers) were tested for differences due to sex and smoking in striatal D(2)/D(3) dopamine-receptor availability, using positron emission tomography with [(18)F]fallypride. Receptor availability was determined using a reference region method, in striatal volumes and in whole-brain, voxel-wise analysis. Significant sex × smoking interactions were observed in the caudate nuclei and putamen. Post-hoc t tests showed that male smokers had significantly lower D(2)/D(3) dopamine-receptor availability than female smokers (-17% caudate, -21% putamen) and male non-smokers (-15% caudate, -16% putamen). Female smokers did not differ from non-smokers. Whole-brain analysis demonstrated no statistically significant voxels or clusters. These results suggest that low receptor availability may confer vulnerability to nicotine dependence or that smoking selectively affects D2/D3 receptor down-regulation in men but not women.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no other potential conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Shown are corresponding MRI and PET scans along with the fused image (coregistered PET to MRI). The volume-of-interest (VOI) mask, created in FSL FIRST, shows caudate and putamen.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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