Sex differences in the acute effects of cigarette smoking on the reinforcing value of alcohol

Abstract

Alcohol consumption acutely increases smoking behavior, but the reverse relationship, the acute effects of smoking on alcohol intake, largely has been ignored. We examined whether smoking acutely increases the reinforcing value of alcohol, first in the absence of recent alcohol intake and then following an alcohol pre-load. Healthy, social-drinking smokers (n = 11 men, 14 women) engaged in a computerized task involving concurrent schedules of reinforcement for beer (FR10, 3 oz (90 ml) per reinforcement) or money (FR5 to FR30, $0.20 per reinforcement) during two sessions, one following day-long ad lib smoking and the other following overnight smoking abstinence. During each session, subjects performed the task in two sets of trials, one before and one after consumption of an alcohol pre-load, with 60 min between sets. To standardize the alcohol pre-load, all subjects were led to believe that they had earned 9 oz (270 ml) of beer after the first trial set, which they then consumed before the second set of trials. Compared to responding during the abstinent session, responding for alcohol during the smoking session was no different before the alcohol pre-load (trial set one) but was significantly greater following the alcohol pre-load (trial set two), although only in men and not women. Subjective sedation after the alcohol pre-load was attenuated during the smoking session in both men and women, but attenuated sedation due to smoking was related to subsequent alcohol-reinforced responding only in men. Additional research is needed to determine the extent to which these effects in men are pharmacological in nature or are conditioned responses to smoking or to consuming a preferred alcoholic beverage.

Effect of transdermal nicotine replacement on alcohol responses and alcohol self-administration

“…First, the sample size was modest and only generalizeable to the population of heavy-drinking daily smokers. Although our sample size was comparable to other laboratory studies examining the effect of nicotine replacement on alcohol responses (e.g., Acheson et al 2006;Barrett et al 2006;Perkins et al 1995Perkins et al , 2000a, our analyses for gender comparisons were under-powered. Second, only a single priming dose was investigated.…”

“…Human laboratory studies have examined the effect of smoked tobacco on alcohol use (Barrett et al 2006;Madden et al 1995;Mello et al 1980Mello et al , 1987 as well as the effect of nicotine deprivation on the reinforcing value of alcohol (Colby et al 2004;Cooney et al 2003;Palfai et al 2000;Perkins et al 2000a). Fewer studies have tested the effect of nicotine replacement on subjective alcohol responses (Cooney et al 2001;Kouri et al 2004;Perkins et al 1995) and alcohol self-administration behavior (Acheson et al 2006).…”

The effects of nicotine on ethanol-induced conditioned taste aversions in Long–Evans rats

“…For example, Kouri et al (2004) reported that men pretreated with a 21-mg nicotine patch before ingesting alcoholic beverages had markedly higher subjective reports of feeling drunk, feeling the effects of alcohol and wanting to drink more than subjects given alcohol alone. Additionally, Perkins et al (2000) found that men who smoked cigarettes after recently consuming alcohol significantly increased responding for more alcohol compared to those who did not smoke. They also found that those in the smoking group indicated greater subjective stimulatory and reduced sedative effects of alcohol compared to controls (Perkins et al 2000; see also Rose et al 2004).…”

“…Additionally, Perkins et al (2000) found that men who smoked cigarettes after recently consuming alcohol significantly increased responding for more alcohol compared to those who did not smoke. They also found that those in the smoking group indicated greater subjective stimulatory and reduced sedative effects of alcohol compared to controls (Perkins et al 2000; see also Rose et al 2004).…”

Differential effects of nicotine on alcohol consumption in men and women

“…That is, alcohol may facilitate smoking, or nicotine may facilitate drinking. Indeed, there is experimental evidence that ethanol increases the reinforcing properties of tobacco smoking and nicotine (i.e., Griffiths et al 1976;Mintz et al 1985;Mitchell et al 1995;Rose et al 2004), and there is limited evidence that nicotine may increase the reinforcing value of ethanol (Barrett et al 2006;Perkins et al 2000;Potthoff et al 1983;Smith et al 1999).…”