Reinforcing and Adverse Observable Effects of Nicotine and Minor Tobacco Alkaloids in Squirrel Monkeys

The most prevalent psychoactive chemical in tobacco smoke is nicotine, which has been shown to maintain tobacco consumption as well as cause acute adverse effects at high doses, like nausea and emesis. Recent studies in laboratory animals have suggested that many non-nicotine constituents of tobacco smoke (e.g., minor tobacco alkaloids) may also contribute to tobacco's overall reinforcing and adverse effects. Here, we used intravenous (IV) self-administration (n = 3) and observation (n = 4) procedures in squirrel monkeys to, respectively, compare the reinforcing and adverse observable effects of nicotine and three prominent minor tobacco alkaloids, nornicotine, anatabine, and myosmine. In self-administration studies, male squirrel monkeys were trained to respond under a second-order fixed-interval schedule of reinforcement and dose-effects functions for nicotine and each of the minor tobacco alkaloids nornicotine, anatabine, and mysomine were determined. Observation studies were conducted in a different group of male squirrel monkeys to quantify the ability of nicotine, nornicotine, anatabine, and mysomine to produce adverse overt effects, including hypersalivation, emesis, and tremors. Results show that nicotine and to a lesser extent nornicotine were readily self-administered, whereas anatabine and myosmine were not. In observation studies, all minor tobacco alkaloids produced adverse observable effects that were either comparable or more pronounced than nicotine. Collectively, the present results showing that nicotine and the minor tobacco alkaloids nornicotine, anatabine, and myosmine produce differential reinforcing and acute adverse observable effects in monkeys provides further evidence that these constituents may differently contribute to the psychopharmacological and adverse effects of tobacco consumption.