Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Research, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22911, USA.
Exp Clin Psychopharmacol. 2010 Dec;18(6):451-61. doi: 10.1037/a0021265.
Nicotine addiction continues to be the main cause of preventable death in developed countries. Women and teen girls appear to be more vulnerable on certain aspects of nicotine addiction compared with men and boys. While the mechanism of gender differences in nicotine addiction is not yet clear, evidence suggests that while estrogen may underlie enhanced vulnerability in females, progesterone may protect females. Thus, progesterone may have therapeutic use for tobacco addiction, especially in female smokers. A greater understanding of the role of progesterone in nicotine addiction is important not only from a treatment standpoint, but also from a prevention standpoint: hormone transition phases, such as those that occur at adolescence, and during pregnancy and following birth, as well as following hormonal manipulation (e.g., using methods of hormonal birth control), may all contribute to changes in vulnerability to nicotine addiction. In this review, we summarize recent evidence from clinical and preclinical studies examining the role of progesterone in nicotine addiction focusing on its role during initiation of use and during later phases of the addiction process as a potential relapse prevention treatment. We conclude with future directions including further examination of progesterone as a potential intervention and treatment of nicotine addiction.
尼古丁成瘾仍然是发达国家可预防死亡的主要原因。与男性和男孩相比，女性和少女在尼古丁成瘾的某些方面似乎更容易受到影响。虽然尼古丁成瘾中性别差异的机制尚不清楚，但有证据表明，尽管雌激素可能是女性易感性增强的基础，但孕激素可能会保护女性。因此，孕激素可能对烟草成瘾具有治疗作用，尤其是对女性吸烟者。从治疗和预防的角度来看，更好地了解孕激素在尼古丁成瘾中的作用非常重要：激素转换阶段，如青春期、怀孕期间和分娩后，以及激素干预后（例如，使用激素避孕方法），都可能导致对尼古丁成瘾的易感性发生变化。在这篇综述中，我们总结了最近来自临床和临床前研究的证据，这些研究检查了孕激素在尼古丁成瘾中的作用，重点是它在使用开始和成瘾过程的后期阶段作为潜在的复发预防治疗中的作用。最后我们提出了未来的方向，包括进一步研究孕激素作为一种潜在的干预和尼古丁成瘾的治疗方法。
