Green Apple Tobacco Flavorant Farnesol Enhances Nicotine Reward‐related Behavior

Abstract

Previous investigations have shown that menthol, the most popular tobacco flavor, can enhance nicotine reward and reinforcement. With the growing popularity of electronic nicotine delivery systems, more flavors are available to smokers and there is a critical need to understand how these flavors may alter nicotine's actions. In this study we examined the green apple flavorant and odorant farnesol for its ability to alter nicotine reward‐related behavior and nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) upregulation.Using a conditioned place preference assay we found that farnesol enhanced nicotine reward‐related behavior to a degree that is similar to menthol. When we examined farnesol alone, we observed significant reward‐related behavior. We then used confocal microscopy and α4‐ mCherryα6‐GFP mice to examine the upregulation of α4‐containing (α4*), α6*, and α4α6* nAChRs in ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine neurons. Here, we observed that farnesol, by itself, enhanced the upregulation of α6* nAChRs but had little effect on α4* nAChRs.Together, these data show that farnesol alters nicotine reward‐related behavior. This is most likely accomplished by its ability to enhance α6* nAChR upregulation. These data highlight the need to study how tobacco flavors alter nicotine reward and reinforcement.Support or Funding InformationSupport: Marshall University Research Corporation and National Institutes of Health: DA040047 and DA043665 (BJH).This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.