The effects of quercetin on nicotine-induced reward effects in mice

Abstract

Objectives Tobacco smoking remains the primary cause of preventable mortality and morbidity in the world. The complexity of the nicotine dependency process included the withdrawal effect that triggers recurrence being the main problem. Quercetin, known as an antioxidant, binds free radicals and modulates endogenous antioxidants through Nrf2 activations is expected as a potential agent to reduce the risk of nicotine dependence. This research aims to evaluate quercetin’s effects on reducing the risk of nicotine addiction. Methods Conditioned Place Preference (CPP) with a biased design was used to evaluate nicotine’s reward effects in male Balb/C mice. Preconditioning test was performed on day 1; conditioning test was done twice daily on day 2–4 by administering quercetin (i.p.) 50 mg/kg along with nicotine (s.c.) 0.5 mg/kg or Cigarette Smoke Extract (CSE) (s.c.) contained nicotine 0.5 mg/kg; and postconditioning test was performed on day 5 continue with extinction test on day 6, 8, 10, 12, and reinstatement test on day 13. The duration spent in each compartment was recorded and analyzed. Results Nicotine 0.5 mg/kg and CSE 0.5 mg/kg significantly induced reward effects (p<0.05). There was no decrease of reward effect during the extinction-reinstatement stage of the postconditioning phase (p>0.05), while quercetin 50 mg/kg both induced along with nicotine or CSE was able to inhibit the reward effect of nicotine (p>0.05). Conclusions Quercetin reduced the risk of nicotine dependence and has a potential effect to use as a therapy for nicotine dependence, especially as a preventive agent.

Natural Polyphenols—Resveratrol, Quercetin, Magnolol, and β-Catechin—Block Certain Aspects of Heroin Addiction and Modulate Striatal IL-6 and TNF-α

“…Our results are in accordance with those of Singh et al, who reported that repeated administration of quercetin (25 and 50 mg/kg) for 9 days suppressed naloxone-precipitated morphine (10 mg/kg) withdrawal [31]. On the other hand, quercetin inhibited nicotinetriggered CPP reinstatement [42], alleviated METH-induced anxiety-like behavior in mice, attenuated the activation of astrocytes, and reduced the levels of IL-1beta and TNF-α, but not IL-6 [43]. In addition, quercetin (10, 30 and 100 mg/kg i.p.)…”