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[Effects of nicotine exposure on endogenous metabolites in mouse brain based on metabolomics and mass spectrometry imaging].

Se pu = Chinese journal of chromatography
April 8, 2025
Lu-Lu Guo et al. (11 authors)
English AbstractJournal ArticleAnimal Study
Study Details

Study Goal

The researchers aimed to systematically examine the effects of repeated nicotine exposure on endogenous metabolites in mouse brains and identify metabolic pathways affected by nicotine.

Results Summary

Nicotine exposure altered 575 metabolites in mouse brains, primarily affecting essential-amino-acid, lipid, nucleotide, carbohydrate, cofactor, and vitamin metabolism. Specific metabolites like choline, serine, aspartate, and malate were significantly downregulated, with regional variations in taurine, acetylcholine, and adenosine levels.

Population

Mice

Effective Dosage

Not specified

Duration

Not specified

Interactions

None mentioned

Extracted Claims (20)
InterventionDirectionEndpointPopulationDosageImpactClaim #
nicotine
decrease
Parkinson's disease
-
-
alleviating symptoms associated with
#1
nicotine
decrease
Alzheimer's disease
-
-
potentially reducing the risk of
#2
nicotine
decrease
oxidative stress
-
-
mitigating
#3
nicotine
decrease
inflammation
-
-
anti-inflammatory effects
#4
nicotine
decrease
anxiety
-
-
anxiolytic effects
#5
nicotine exposure
neutral
significantly different metabolites
mouse brains
575
resulted in
#6
nicotine exposure
decrease
metabolites
mouse brains
434
down-regulated
#7
nicotine exposure
increase
metabolites
mouse brains
141
up-regulated
#8
nicotine exposure
neutral
essential-amino-acid, lipid, nucleotide, carbohydrate, cofactor, and vitamin metabolism, as well as other amino-acid metabolic pathways
brain
-
affects
#9
nicotine exposure
decrease
choline levels
brain
-
leads to the significant downregulation of
#10
nicotine exposure
decrease
serine levels
brain
-
leads to the significant downregulation of
#11
nicotine exposure
decrease
aspartate levels
brain
-
leads to the significant downregulation of
#12
nicotine exposure
decrease
malate levels
brain
-
leads to the significant downregulation of
#13
nicotine exposure
neutral
taurine levels
cortical region
-
notably affected
#14
nicotine exposure
neutral
acetylcholine levels
hippocampal region
-
notably affected
#15
nicotine exposure
neutral
adenosine levels
striatal region
-
notably affected
#16
nicotine exposure
neutral
essential-amino-acid metabolism
-
-
most affected
#17
nicotine exposure
neutral
lipid metabolism
-
-
next-most affected
#18
nicotine exposure
neutral
cortical region
-
-
predominantly affected
#19
nicotine exposure
neutral
striatum, hippocampus, thalamus, and cerebellum
-
-
affected to varying degrees
#20
Abstract

Nicotine, the principal alkaloid in tobacco, exhibits significant central nervous system activity and induces a wide array of physiological effects. In addition to its well-documented role in tobacco dependence, previous studies have suggested that nicotine also has diverse pharmacological properties. These include alleviating symptoms associated with Parkinson's disease, potentially reducing the risk of Alzheimer's disease, mitigating oxidative stress, as well as anti-inflammatory and anxiolytic effects. Neuroscientists frequently use an array of molecular biology techniques to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for the effects of nicotine on the central nervous system. However, disease onset is invariably accompanied by metabolic dysfunction, and organisms often exhibit complex and unpredictable responses to pharmacological stimuli. As a bioactive alkaloid with potent pharmacological properties, nicotine is able to cross the blood-brain barrier and induce brain-compound changes, which serves as the basis for its effects on the central nervous system. Consequently, examining the extensive impact of nicotine exposure on endogenous metabolites and metabolic pathways in the brain is an indispensable step toward providing a more robust foundation for understanding the complex physiological effects of nicotine. In this study, an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) metabolomic-analysis method was established to systematically examine the effects of repeated nicotine exposure on endogenous metabolites in mouse brains. Two chromatographic systems fitted with Acquity UPLC BEH HILIC (150 mm×2.1 mm, 1.7 μm) and BEH C18 (150 mm×2.1 mm, 1.7 μm) columns were used to determine the nicotine present in samples. As a result, the established UHPLC-MS/MS method identified a total of 759 endogenous metabolites. Compared with the saline group, nicotine exposure resulted in 575 significantly different metabolites, with 434 metabolites down-regulated and 141 up-regulated. Further pathway-enrichment analysis using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) revealed that nicotine exposure primarily affects essential-amino-acid, lipid, nucleotide, carbohydrate, cofactor, and vitamin metabolism, as well as other amino-acid metabolic pathways in the brain. Although non-targeted metabolomics can simultaneously detect and analyze all small-molecule metabolites in an unbiased manner, accurately capturing metabolite changes in specific brain regions is challenging when dealing with complex brain-tissue systems. Targeting the aggregation of material bases and the delivery of precision treatment to certain brain regions is expected to be significant for the targeted therapy of central nervous system diseases. Airflow-assisted desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging (AFADESI-MSI) was further used to directly visualize the nicotine-induced distributions and variations of differentially expressed metabolites in various brain regions, which revealed that nicotine exposure leads to the significant downregulation of choline, serine, aspartate, and malate levels throughout the brain. Specifically, taurine, acetylcholine, and adenosine levels were notably affected in the cortical, hippocampal, and striatal regions, respectively. Essential-amino-acid metabolism was most affected by nicotine, with lipid metabolism found to be the next-most affected pathway. These metabolic pathways predominantly affected the cortical region, whereas the striatum, hippocampus, thalamus, and cerebellum were affected to varying degrees. These findings provide novel experimental evidence that enhances our understanding of metabolic biomarkers associated with nicotine exposure.

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
NicotineAnimalsMiceBrainMetabolomicsTandem Mass SpectrometryMaleChromatography, High Pressure Liquid
Study Links
Quality Scores
SafetyNot Assessed
Efficacy75/10
Quality85/10
Research Impact Scores
APT Score0.05
Weight Score2.02
Normalized Score0.67
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