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Updated: May 1, 2026

Spectral Confocal Imaging of Fluorescently tagged Nicotinic Receptors in Knock-in Mice with Chronic Nicotine Administration
Published on: February 10, 2012
Nicotine dependence as a moderator of genetic influences on smoking cessation treatment outcome
Adam M Leventhal1, Wonho Lee2, Andrew W Bergen3
1Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.
Background:
Genetic influences on smoking cessation treatment outcome may be affected by pretreatment patient characteristics. Nicotine dependence is arguably the most salient clinical factor in smoking cessation.
Methods:
In this secondary analysis of clinical trial data (N=793), we examined nicotine dependence severity as a moderator of the effects of 1198 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 53 biologically-relevant gene regions on smoking cessation outcomes. P-values were adjusted to account for multiple correlated SNPs within a gene region; corrected system-wide significance was 5 × 10(-4).
Results:
SNP × nicotine dependence interactions reached region-wide significance for several SNPs in the Dopamine Beta Hydroxylase (DBH) locus (0.0005
Conclusions:
Considering pre-treatment nicotine dependence level may optimize the prediction of genetic influences on cessation outcomes. If replicated, results like these may inform prognosticative genomic screening panels designed to identify smokers at high risk of relapse when coupled with severe nicotine dependence.
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