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High Levels of Dopamine Activity in the Basal Ganglia of Cigarette Smokers

OBJECTIVE: The authors’ goal was to study presynaptic dopamine activity in smoking and nonsmoking human subjects in vivo. METHOD: [¹⁸F]Fluorodopa ([¹⁸F]DOPA) uptake K_i values in the basal ganglia of nine smoking and 10 nonsmoking healthy men were measured with positron emission tomography. RESULTS: Significantly higher [¹⁸F]DOPA uptake was observed in both the putamen (average 17.3% higher) and the caudate (average 30.4% higher) of smokers than in those of nonsmokers. CONCLUSIONS: Smoking is related to greater dopamine activity in the human basal ganglia. Nicotine-induced dopamine activity may be a relevant mechanism in dependence on cigarette smoking.

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