Nicotine Reinforcement and Aversion in Young Adult Light Smokers
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2020-03-31
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
The proposed study will examine the threshold for nicotine self-administration (NSA) using
five different nicotine doses in young adult male and female non-dependent smokers (light and
intermittent smokers or LITS). We propose a double-blind, placebo-controlled study that will
enroll 195 individuals, targeting a total of 72 completers (36 male and 36 females). In each
of the five experimental sessions, smokers will be randomly assigned to one of the five doses
of nicotine (0.0125, 0.025, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2 mg/70 kg). The highest dose, 0.2 mg/70 kg,
corresponds to nicotine delivered by about one or two puffs of a cigarette. At the beginning
of each experimental session, smokers will sample the assigned both the nicotine dose for
that experimental session, and the placebo (saline) dose, followed by the opportunity to
choose between nicotine and placebo for a total of ten choices over a 150-minute period. The
main outcomes will be threshold dose (the minimum dose of nicotine that is self-administered
more than placebo) and the slope of dose-response for nicotine self-administration (changes
in nicotine self-administration per unit change in nicotine dose). We will also collect
measures of nicotine intake (cotinine), nicotine clearance (3-hydroxycotinine (3-HC) /
cotinine), and self-report drug effects