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The separate and combined effects of monoamine oxidase inhibition and nicotine on P50 sensory gating

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Abstract

Introduction

The cognitive effects of nicotine in humans remain a topic of great interest, due to the continued prevalence of cigarette smoking in society as well as the hypothesis that cognitively impaired populations such as schizophrenia patients use nicotine as a means of self-medicating against deficits of sensory gating. However, chronic smoking can predispose individuals to robust monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibition, and thus far, the effect of MAO inhibition on human sensory gating is unknown.

Methods

In this study, we investigated the effects of both nicotine (6-mg gum) and pharmacologically induced MAO-A inhibition via moclobemide (75 mg) on P50 event-related potential-indexed sensory gating in a sample of 24 healthy non-smoking males.

Results

Ratio score (rP50) measured gating revealed significant improvement in auditory stimulus suppression after combined nicotine and MAO-A inhibition compared to placebo and to the nicotine-alone condition. This nicotine + MAO-A inhibition-induced efficient gating was consistent regardless of participants’ baseline (placebo) gating efficiency, despite the observation that nicotine in the absence of MAO-A inhibition exhibited a detrimental effect on gating in participants with high baseline suppression ratios.

Conclusion

Nicotine and monoamine oxidase-inhibiting agents in tobacco smoke appear to exert a synergistic effect on sensory gating, which may contribute to the elevated dependence rates seen in populations with cognitive deficits such as schizophrenia.

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Funding and disclosure

The authors declare no conflict of interest. Contributions from all authors were carried out with funding by the University of Ottawa Medical Research Fund and by a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) awarded to Dr. Verner Knott.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research, 1145 Carling Ave., Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1Z 7K4

    Dylan M. Smith, Pierre Blier & Verner Knott

  2. Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Dylan M. Smith, Pierre Blier & Verner Knott

  3. Department of Psychology, Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, NS, Canada

    Derek Fisher

  4. Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Pierre Blier, Vadim Illivitsky & Verner Knott

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  1. Dylan M. Smith
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  2. Derek Fisher
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  3. Pierre Blier
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  5. Verner Knott
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Correspondence to Dylan M. Smith.

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Smith, D.M., Fisher, D., Blier, P. et al. The separate and combined effects of monoamine oxidase inhibition and nicotine on P50 sensory gating. Psychopharmacology 232, 1911–1920 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-014-3823-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-014-3823-8

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