Effects of abstinence on cigarette smoking among outpatients with schizophrenia.

The authors of this study examined the effects of brief smoking abstinence on smoking among 6 individuals with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Before 6 of 12 experimental sessions, participants were required to provide breath carbon monoxide (CO) samples indicative of smoking abstinence; before the remaining sessions, participants provided CO samples indicating no abstinence. During sessions, participants obtained smoking opportunities (2 puffs/opportunity) under either fixed ratio-1 or progressive ratio (PR) schedules of reinforcement. Abstinence increased smoking under both schedules and increased breakpoint for smoking under the PR schedule. These data offer further evidence that smoking by individuals with schizophrenia is orderly, operant behavior that is modulated, at least in part, by variables that also affect smoking in people without major mental illness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of d-amphetamine and smoking abstinence on cue-induced cigarette craving.

In this study, the authors investigated the effects of the indirect dopamine agonist d-amphetamine (AMPH) on cue-induced cigarette craving in smokers. Abstinent or nonabstinent cigarette smokers (N=21) rated their cravings for cigarettes and for food (control) after pretreatment with AMPH (15 mg) or placebo and before and after viewing blocks of smoking-related, food-related, and neutral pictures. Before the cues were presented, AMPH increased cigarette craving and decreased food craving. Smoking and food cues increased craving for cigarettes and for food, respectively. AMPH also further increased cigarette craving (and decreased food craving) after cue presentation, but it did so regardless of cue type (food or smoking). Smoking abstinence markedly increased craving regardless of cue presentation or drug condition. These results suggest that both AMPH and smoking abstinence can increase cigarette craving, but they do not appear to specifically affect responses to conditioned smoking-related cues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory for cigarette advertisements enhanced by smoking abstinence.

Abstinent and nonabstinent smokers were exposed to a series of cigarette and automobile advertisements. After a distractor event, a subsequent task tested recognition. Nonabstinent smokers showed no differences in recognition for the 2 types of stimuli. Abstinent smokers, on the other hand, recognized more cigarette advertisements than automobile advertisements (p?     

Effects of tobacco abstinence on food intake among cigarette smokers.

The total caloric and specific nutrient intakes of smokers who became abstinent were compared with those of a control group. Both groups were composed of volunteer inpatients housed in a research ward for 7 days. After smoking ad libitum for 3 days, the experimental group was required to abstain from tobacco for the next 4 days while the control group continued to smoke. Significant increases in total caloric intake and in grams of carbohydrates, protein, fat, and sucrose were observed in the experimental relative to the control group, whereas no significant differences were found in fructose intake. The increase in caloric intake was not specific to increases in snacking. Preliminary analyses showed gender differences in food intake as a result of tobacco abstinence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between in-treatment abstinence and post-treatment abstinence in a smoking cessation treatment.

Previous research has indicated that abstinence early in a smoking cessation program is predictive of successful posttreatment abstinence. However, it has not been established whether or not this effect is independent of other in-treatment abstinence patterns. In this paper the relationship between three potentially important aspects of in-treatment smoking abstinence and posttreatment smoking abstinence are examined: early abstinence, extended abstinence, and end-of-treatment abstinence. We examined the relationship between smoking behavior measured each weekday over 70 visits (approximately 14 weeks) of a contingency management smoking cessation program and at a follow-up visit 6 months after study entry (3 months after the scheduled end of treatment). Ninety-five of 102 participants were successfully followed-up. Seven of these 95 participants were confirmed abstinent. Early abstinence, defined as abstinence during the first 10 treatment visits, was significantly and independently related to follow-up abstinence (OR = 56.67 [7.29–440.63]). Extended abstinence and end-of-treatment abstinence were related to follow-up abstinence, but not independent of early abstinence based on multiple regression models. Inclusion of a variety of demographic and environmental characteristics did not significantly alter this relationship. Thus, consistent with the previous literature, the establishment of early abstinence appears to be crucial to establishing longer-term abstinence, independent of other in-treatment abstinence patterns. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of cigarette smoking and smoking deprivation on Wisconsin Card Sorting Test performance.

Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) performance was assessed in 24 heavy smokers and 12 nonsmokers recruited from universities in the US and Japan. Half of the smokers performed the WCST after abstaining from tobacco for 12 hrs, whereas the remaining smokers smoked a cigarette of their preferred brand immediately before the test. Nonsmokers did not smoke. The WCST was administered by computer, first with standard instructions and then a 2nd time with abbreviated instructions that specified the 3 sorting criteria. Results from the 2nd run indicated that abstinent smokers made significantly more perseverative responses and errors than did nonsmokers or smoking smokers. Results expand on previous findings of effects of smoking deprivation on human cognitive performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of cigarette smoking on perception of thermal pain.

The effects of cigarette smoking on pain perception were evaluated in 18 healthy smokers. Thermal pain stimuli were used to assess pain detection threshold and tolerance and to collect subjective ratings of the intensity and unpleasantness of painful stimuli. After overnight abstinence, pain perception was evaluated before and after 3 experimental treatments. Participants smoked normal cigarettes, smoked denicotinized cigarettes, or remained abstinent. Smoking normal cigarettes produced relative increases in pain tolerance compared with abstinence. Smoking denicotinized cigarettes produced intermediate effects on tolerance not different from the other 2 treatments. Effects were not detected for pain threshold or subjective pain ratings. Results suggest that cigarette smoking can have antinociceptive effects, which may depend both on nicotine and on other factors associated with smoking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Initial abstinence and success in achieving longer term cocaine abstinence.

This study's goals were to characterize the relationship between early and longer term cocaine abstinence and assess whether increasing early abstinence increases longer term abstinence. Results from 190 cocaine-dependent outpatients were analyzed. Participants were divided into 2 conditions: (a) those treated with community reinforcement approach (CRA) plus contingent vouchers (n?=?125) and (b) those treated with control treatments (n?=?65). A period of sustained abstinence during treatment was associated with significantly greater odds of posttreatment abstinence, with no evidence of differences between the 2 treatment conditions in that regard. Treatment conditions differed in that CRA plus contingent vouchers increased the proportion of participants who sustained a period of during-treatment abstinence and increased abstinence during 6-month posttreatment follow-up. Devising interventions that increase the proportion of individuals who achieve an early period of sustained abstinence may be key to increasing longer term cocaine abstinence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between body mass and cigarette smoking using a biochemical index of smoking exposure

This study evaluated the relationship between smoking and body mass using objective indices of both smoking exposure (COHb) and body mass. The subjects were 4240 adults who participated in the Second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES II). Measurements of dietary intake, physical activity, demographics, body mass index (BMI) and blood carboxy-haemoglobin (COHb) were used in these analyses. After controlling for covariables of body mass, the results indicated that smokers displayed a significantly lower mass compared with non-smokers. Smokers with higher levels of COHb had lower BMIs than smokers at lower COHb levels. White smokers had lower BMIs with increasing COHb exposure whereas black smokers had BMIs at high COHb exposure similar to those of non-smokers. Results indicated that smokers weighed less than non-smokers and that the weight control 'benefits' of smoking were most pronounced in white subjects who were heavy smokers.     

Effects of tobacco smoking and abstinence on middle latency auditory evoked potentials

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of tobacco cigarette smoking and overnight abstinence on middle latency auditory evoked potentials among smokers and nonsmokers. METHODS: Groups of 9 to 10 adult male and female nonsmokers and smokers participated in the study. Each person volunteered for two laboratory sessions conducted in the early afternoon on 2 separate days. Smokers abstained from tobacco products 6 to 15 hours before the abstinent session and maintained their usual smoking behavior before the smoking session. The nonsmokers had a similar laboratory experience but sham smoked by means of inhaling air. Middle latency auditory evoked potentials were recorded from Cz to both ears as reference. RESULT: The latencies of the Na and Pa potentials during the smoking session were significantly (p < 0.01) shorter than those in abstinent smokers and nonsmokers. After smoking, peak-to-trough amplitudes for the V-Na, Na-Pa, and Pa-Nb potentials were larger than those after abstinence and significantly larger than those among nonsmokers. CONCLUSIONS: The shorter latencies of the middle latency brain wave components in the smoking session suggest faster processing of sensory information after cigarette smoking. Larger Pa amplitudes after cigarette smoking suggest a higher arousal level than that among partially abstinent smokers and nonsmokers.     

Extended treatment with bupropion SR for cigarette smoking cessation.

The authors present results of a randomized clinical trial of the efficacy of extended treatment with bupropion SR in producing longer term cigarette smoking cessation. Adult smokers (N = 362) received open-label treatment (11 weeks) that combined relapse prevention training, bupropion SR, and nicotine patch followed by extended treatment (14 weeks) with bupropion SR or matching placebo. Abstinence percentages were relatively high (week 11: 52%; week 25: bupropion, 42%; placebo, 38%; week 52: bupropion, 33%; placebo, 34%), but bupropion SR did not surpass placebo. Gender and baseline craving level were identified as significant, independent moderators of treatment response. Men were more likely to abstain than women (week 11: 59% vs. 43%, p = .001; week 25: 48% vs. 31%, p = .001; week 52: 39% vs. 27%, p = .01). Because most smokers suffer relapse with any current cessation treatment, the comparatively high abstinence percentages achieved in this trial are of interest. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of smoking and smoking abstinence on verbal and visuospatial working memory capacity.

Several studies have examined the effects of smoking and abstaining from smoking on working memory (WM) but have yielded inconclusive findings. Thus, the authors used a repeated measures design to assess the effects of smoking and abstaining from smoking on both visuospatial and verbal WM capacity (WMC) using highly reliable, well-validated, and theoretically driven WM span tasks. Verbal n-back was also administered to examine its relationship to these complex WM span tasks and to compare this study's results with previous findings. Smokers (n = 23) and nonsmokers (n = 21) participated in 2 sessions separated by 1 week. During 1 session, smokers completed the WM tasks after abstaining from smoking for at least 12 hr, whereas in the other session smokers did not abstain from smoking and were tested immediately after smoking (all WM tasks were completed 45 min or less since last cigarette). Results indicated that smokers' verbal WM span was lower than nonsmokers' and was lower during the nonabstinent session compared with the abstinent session. Smokers' verbal n-back performance was also lower than nonsmokers', although there was no difference in verbal n-back performance between the smoking sessions. In contrast, there was no difference in visuospatial WM span between the smoking sessions or between smokers and nonsmokers. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that (a) smokers' verbal WM is lower than nonsmokers, (b) smokers' verbal WMC is lower during nonabstinence compared with abstinence, and (c) smoking exhibits differential effects on the different WM domains. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of cigarette smoking on antioxidant vitamin and activities of antioxidases

Levels of plasma vitamin C and E (P-VC, P-VE), beta-carotene (P-beta-Car), lipoperoxides (P-LPO), and activity of erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (E-SOD) were measured in 871 healthy smokers and 348 healthy non-smokers to study the relationship between cigarette smoking and antioxidant vitamins and oxygen free radicals. Results showed that levels of P-VC, P-VE, P-beta-Car and E-SOD reduced significantly, and level of P-LPO increased significantly in smokers, as compared with those in non-smokers. Levels of P-VC, P-VE, P-beta-Car and E-SOD reduced and level of P-LPO increased in 65 male smokers at the same age, with the increase of duration of smoking and quantity of cigarettes smoked, showing a linear correlationship. It suggested that there existed serious imbalance between oxidation and antioxidation in the bodies of smokers, and oxygen free radical reaction and reaction of lipoperoxidation obviously intensified.     

Effects of nicotine dose and administration method on withdrawal symptoms and side effects during short-term smoking abstinence.

The effects of using several different nicotine replacement treatments on self-reported withdrawal symptoms and side effects during 2-day periods of smoking cessation, with 5 days of ad lib smoking between cessation days, were evaluated. Participants (N ?=?18) experienced the following conditions: nicotine gum, 24-hr patch, 16-hr patch, 24-hr patch plus gum, double 24-hr patch, and no nicotine replacement. The present study found morning urge to smoke was greater during the 16-hr than during the 24-hr patch condition. Double-patch use resulted in significantly greater insomnia than the smoking baseline and 16-hr patch conditions. The no medication and gum alone conditions resulted in similar withdrawal symptoms, and both tended to result in greater reported withdrawal symptoms than the smoking baseline condition. There were no significant withdrawal symptom differences between the 24-hr, patch-gum, and double-patch conditions. The 24-hr and double-patch conditions were preferred by two thirds of the participants (6 each). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of cigarette smoking and age on the maturation of human oocytes

We investigated whether cigarette smoking, measured by follicular fluid concentrations of cotinine (a major metabolite of nicotine), affects the maturity of oocytes from women undergoing in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and embryo transfer. In 234 women, follicular fluid samples were assessed for cotinine and their 2020 oocytes were assessed for maturity stage. Data on individual proportions of oocytes which were mature (OM) and were fertilized (OF) were analysed by regression in relation to age and follicular fluid cotinine. OF gave an independent assessment of oocyte maturity. Both age and follicular fluid cotinine entered the OM and OF regressions and were significant. The age-adjusted regression coefficients for log cotinine were positive; greater cotinine concentrations usually accompanied greater OM and OF. The cotinine effect on OM was positive in younger women, but it became negative (decreased OM with increasing cotinine concentrations) in older women (> or = 40 years). We further found in older women an average reduction of approximately 50% in the number of mature oocytes; this reduced number was lower than the number of embryos usually transferred. Smoking can reduce the number of mature oocytes even further, therefore risking a negative IVF-embryo transfer outcome. This may be the reason why the negative effects of smoking become clinically detectable in older women.     

Nortriptyline and cognitive-behavioral therapy in the treatment of cigarette smoking

During the process of evolution, ancestral lysozymes evolved into calcium-binding lysozymes by acquiring three critical aspartate residues at positions 86, 91 and 92. To investigate the process of the acquisition of calcium-binding ability, two of the aspartates were partially introduced into human lysozyme at positions 86, 91 and 92. These mutants (HLQ86D, HLA92D and HLQ86D/D91Q/A92D), having two critical aspartates in calcium-binding sites, were expressed in Escherichia coli as non-active inclusion bodies. For the preparation of lysozyme samples, a refolding system using thioredoxin was established. This system allowed for effective refolding of wild-type and mutant lysozymes, and 100% of activity was recovered within 4 days. The calcium ion dependence of the melting temperature (Tm) of wild-type and mutant lysozymes was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry at pH 4.5. The Tm values of wild-type, HLQ86D and HLA92D mutants were not dependent on calcium ion concentration. However, the Tm of HLQ86D/D91Q/A92D was 4 degrees higher in the presence of 50 mM CaCl2 than in its absence, and the calcium-binding constant of this mutant was estimated to be 2.25(+/-0.25)x10(2) M(-1) at pH 4.5. Moreover, the calcium-binding ability of this mutant was confirmed by the result using Sephadex G-25 gel chromatography. These results indicate that it is indispensable to have at least two aspartates at positions 86 and 92 for acquisition of calcium-binding ability. The process of the acquisition of calcium-binding site during evolution of calcium-binding lysozyme is discussed.     

The effects of cigarette smoking on negative priming.

Nicotine administration has been found to enhance performance on tasks of selective attention. It has been proposed that efficient attentional filtering depends on the successful inhibition of distracting information. In the work reported here, a negative priming paradigm was adopted to test whether smoking enhanced the inhibition of irrelevant information. Thirty-six minimally deprived smokers, half of whom smoked and half of whom sham smoked, completed the negative priming task. A significantly larger negative priming effect was found in participants who had smoked in comparison with those who sham smoked. These results support the hypothesis that nicotine enhances the inhibition of distracting information and thus suggest a possible mechanism by which smoking may enhance selective attention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An ecological view of cigarette smoking.

Considers the social, biological, and physical inputs, mediating systems, and behavioral outputs of smoking in an ecological model. Implications of this model in understanding changes in smoking patterns are discussed. Experimental data is presented in an analysis of some determinants of the decision to stop smoking. Findings indicate that the individual stops smoking, not out of fear of consequences (e.g., lung cancer), but because of expectations of benefits: the decision to stop is based on subjectively expected utility. Attempts to change utilities have been inconclusive but do tend to indicate the importance of smoking patterns and that, for many individuals, smoking is an important source of ego strength. It is suggested that within Western society cigarettes are a major source for the fulfillment of the dominant values of achieving and doing. The need to change the society's as well as the individual's view of the utility of smoking is discussed. (27 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)