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Changes in food reward following smoking cessation: a pharmacogenetic investigation

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Abstract

Rationale

Despite the high prevalence and public health significance of weight gain following smoking cessation, little is known about the underlying bio-behavioral mechanisms or effective therapies.

Objectives

We evaluated the effects of bupropion on food reward following smoking abstinence and the moderating influence of genotype.

Methods

Seventy-one smokers of European ancestry were genotyped for the dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) Taq1 polymorphism and randomized to treatment with bupropion (300 mg) or placebo for smoking cessation. Subjects participated in two behavioral laboratory sessions during which the rewarding value of food was assessed using a behavioral economics measure: session 1 occurred prior to medication and before cessation of smoking; session 2 occurred following 3 weeks of medication and 1 week of sustained abstinence.

Results

Carriers of the DRD2 A1 minor allele exhibited significant increases in the rewarding value of food following abstinence from smoking, and these effects were attenuated by bupropion treatment (P=0.03 for medication by genotype interaction). Further, higher levels of food reward at session 2 (post-quit) predicted a significant increase in weight by 6-month follow-up in the placebo group, but not in the bupropion-treated group (P=0.006 for medication by food reward interaction).

Conclusions

These results provide new evidence that the increase in body weight that occurs following smoking cessation is related to increases in food reward, and that food reward is partly determined by genetic factors. Bupropion’s efficacy in attenuating abstinence-induced weight gain may be attributable, in part, to decreasing food reward.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge Jodie Jaroni, M.S., for assistance with research coordination, Bridget Ambrose, B.A., and Fran Saad, B.A., for data collection, and David Main, M.A., M.S., and Rocco Paluch, M.S., for data management. The current study complied with the current laws of the United States of America. This research was supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute RO1CA63562 and the National Institute on Drug Abuse P50CA/DA84718, and funds from the Abramson Cancer Center and Annenburg Public Policy Center (C.L.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, 3535 Market Street, Suite 4100, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Caryn Lerman, Wade Berrettini, Angela Pinto, Freda Patterson & E. Paul Wileyto

  2. Westat, 500 Research Blvd., TB358, Rockville, MD, 20850-3158, USA

    Susan Crystal-Mansour

  3. Molecular Diagnosis and Genotyping Facility, Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Stephanie L. Restine & Debra G. B. Leonard

  4. Department of Oncology, Georgetown University, 3970 Reservoir Rd., N.W., W315 Research Building, Washington, DC, 20007, USA

    Peter G. Shields

  5. Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York, Farber Hall, Room G56, 3455 Main Street, Buffalo, NY, 14214, USA

    Leonard H. Epstein

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  1. Caryn Lerman
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  2. Wade Berrettini
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  3. Angela Pinto
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Correspondence to Caryn Lerman.

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Lerman, C., Berrettini, W., Pinto, A. et al. Changes in food reward following smoking cessation: a pharmacogenetic investigation. Psychopharmacology 174, 571–577 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-004-1823-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-004-1823-9

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