Nicotine enhances 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine neurotoxicity

Epidemiologic evidence of an inverse relationship between cigarette smoking and Parkinson's disease suggests that a component of cigarette smoke protects against nigrostriatal degeneration. Nicotine, a major component of cigarette smoke, is similar in chemical structure to 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) and is metabolized in part by the same enzymes that detoxify MPTP. We investigated the effect of chronic nicotine on MPTP neurotoxicity in two strains of mice and found that nicotine increases rather than decreases MPTP toxicity. These results are not compatible with the hypothesis that nicotine is that component of cigarette smoke that protects against nigrostriatal degeneration, at least in the MPTP experimental model of Parkinson's disease.