Genetic risks to nicotine dependence predict negative mood and affect in current non-smokers

Nicotine is the psychoactive agent involved in nicotine dependence. However, nicotine as a drug, and its effects on human psychology are largely under-investigated in genetic studies. In this study, we recruited 208 current non-smokers to evaluate the effect of nicotine and its relationship to genetic risks to nicotine dependence. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, as well as measurement invariance testing, were conducted to evaluate the latent factor structures of the POMS, PANAS and DEN questionnaires across 3 nicotine doses. Structural models were used to examine the effects of nicotine and their relationship to genetic risks of nicotine dependence. We found that nicotine administration led to the change of both measurement construct and factor means, indicating the causal effect of nicotine on the psychological responses. The genotypes of rs588765 predicted the scores of the DEN Confused and Dizzy factors (p = 0.0003 and 0.001 respectively), and rs16969968 and rs588765 were associated with the PANAS Nervous factor (p = 0.006 and 0.007 respectively). Our study suggested that genetic risk of nicotine dependence is associated with acute psychological responses. The integration of psychometric analyses and dose effects could be a powerful approach for genetic study of nicotine dependence.