The effects of nicotine and nicotine withdrawal on taste reactivity

The effect of nicotine pretreatment on the palatability of flavored solutions was assessed using the taste reactivity test. In Experiment 1, low doses of nicotine [0.2-0.4 mg/kg, subcutaneously (s.c.)] suppressed the aversive taste properties of quinine and quinine-sucrose mixture and enhanced the hedonic taste properties of sucrose (0.4 mg/kg, s.c.) in rats that were nicotine naive. In Experiment 2, rats were chronically preexposed to nicotine or saline over a period of 21 pretreatment days. Tolerance developed to the ability of nicotine to enhance the palatability of sucrose. Furthermore, rats that were chronically preexposed to nicotine displayed enhanced hedonic evaluation of sucrose 24 h after nicotine was withdrawn. These results confirm human self-reports that withdrawal from nicotine dependency enhances the palatability of sweet-tasting foods.