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Updated: Oct 8, 2025

Investigating Drivers of Antireward in Addiction Behavior with Anatomically Specific Single-Cell Gene Expression Methods
Published on: August 4, 2022
Nicotine and opioid co-dependence: Findings from bench research to clinical trials
Lilian Custodio1, Samantha Malone2, Michael T Bardo2
1Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA.
Abstract:
Concomitant use of tobacco and opioids represents a growing public health concern. In fact, the mortality rate due to smoking-related illness approaches 50% among SUD patients. Cumulative evidence demonstrates that the vulnerability to drugs of abuse is influenced by behavioral, environmental, and genetic factors. This review explores the contribution of genetics and neural mechanisms influencing nicotine and opioid reward, respiration, and antinociception, emphasizing the interaction of cholinergic and opioid receptor systems. Despite the substantial evidence demonstrating nicotine-opioid interactions within the brain and on behavior, the currently available pharmacotherapies targeting these systems have shown limited efficacy for smoking cessation on opioid-maintained smokers. Thus, further studies designed to identify novel targets modulating both nicotinic and opioid receptor systems may lead to more efficacious approaches for co-morbid nicotine dependence and opioid use disorder.
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