Tara Mundy

Biology

The effect of nicotine on synapse

Nicotine is a poisonous, oily liquid that comes from Nicatina Tabacum - the
tobacco plant. It has an unpleasant tobacco order, a burning taste, and strong
alkaline reaction.
Nicotine stimulates the paralysis of skeletal muscles which is the major
reason for the toxic effect on respiration. Nicotine comes in various forms:
cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, smokeless tobacco and chewing tobacco. It
can cause: lung damage, heart irregularity, and cancer of the lungs, throat,
larynx and stomach.
Inhalation is a very effective drug-delivery system. 90% of inhaled nicotine is
absorbed. The physiological effects of smoking one cigarette have been
mimicked by injecting about 1 mg of nicotine intravenously. Acting with almost
as much speed as cyanide, nicotine is one of the most toxic drugs known. In
humans, 60mg is a lethal dose. Death follows intake within a few minutes. A
cigar contains enough nicotine for two lethal doses. Not all of the nicotine is
delivered to the smoker or absorbed in a short enough period of time to kill a
person.

Nicotine is primarily deactivated in the liver. 80% to 90% is modified before

excretion through the kidneys. Tolerance to nicotine may result because
neither nicotine or the tars increase the activity of the liver nicrosomal
enzymes that are responsible for the deactivation of drugs. These enzymes
increase the rate of deactivation and thus decrease the clinical effects of the
benzodiazepines and some antidepressants and analgesics. The final step in
eliminating deactivated nicotine from the body may be somewhat slowed by
nicotine itself. Nicotine acts on the hypothalamus to cause a release of the
hormone that acts to reduce the loss of body fluids.
The effect of nicotine on areas outside the CNS. Nicotine mimics acetycholine
by acting at the nicotinic type of cholinergic receptor site and stimulating the
dendrite. It is not rapidly deactivated, and continued occupation of the
receptor prevents incoming impulses from having an effect, thus blocking
transmission of information at the synapse. Nicotine first stimulates and then
blocks the synapse. This blockage of cholinergic synapses is responsible for
some of its effects, but others seem to be the result of a second action.
Nicotine causes a release of adrenaline from the adrenal glands as well as
from other sympathetic sites. It has in part a sympathomimetic action. Nicotine
first stimulates then blocks some sensory receptors, including the chemical
receptors found in some large arteries and the thermal pain receptors found in
the skin and tongue.