UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Research, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Psychiatry Res. 2013 Dec 30;214(3):415-21. doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2013.07.010. Epub 2013 Oct 19.
Prior research indicates that disturbance of cholinergic neurotransmission reduces anxiety, leading to the hypothesis that people with heightened cholinergic function have a greater tendency toward anxiety-like and/or harm-avoidant behavior. We sought to determine if people with elevated levels of harm avoidance (HA), a dimension of temperament from the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), have high α4β2* nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) availability. Healthy adults (n=105; 47 non-smokers and 58 smokers) underwent bolus-plus-continuous infusion positron emission tomography (PET) scanning using the radiotracer 2-[18F]fluoro-3-(2(S)azetidinylmethoxy) pyridine (abbreviated as 2-FA). During the uptake period of 2-FA, participants completed the TCI. The central study analysis revealed a significant association between total HA and mean nAChR availability, with higher total HA scores being linked with greater nAChR availability. In examining HA subscales, both 'Fear of Uncertainty' and 'Fatigability' were significant, based on higher levels of these characteristics being associated with greater nAChR availabilities. This study adds to a growing body of knowledge concerning the biological basis of personality and may prove useful in understanding the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders (such as anxiety disorders) that have similar characteristics to HA. Study findings may indicate that heightened cholinergic neurotransmission is associated with increased anxiety-like traits.
先前的研究表明，胆碱能神经递质的紊乱会降低焦虑，从而产生这样的假设，即具有较高胆碱能功能的人更倾向于出现类似焦虑和/或回避伤害的行为。我们试图确定具有较高回避倾向（HA）的人是否具有较高的α4β2*烟碱型乙酰胆碱受体（nAChR）可利用度，HA 是气质特征的一个维度，来自特质和性格问卷（TCI）。健康成年人（n=105；47 名不吸烟者和 58 名吸烟者）接受了放射性示踪剂 2-[18F]氟-3-(2(S)氮杂环丁烷-甲氧)吡啶（简称 2-FA）的脉冲式+连续输注正电子发射断层扫描（PET）扫描。在 2-FA 的摄取期间，参与者完成了 TCI。核心研究分析显示，总 HA 与平均 nAChR 可利用度之间存在显著关联，总 HA 评分越高，nAChR 可利用度越高。在检查 HA 亚量表时，“对不确定性的恐惧”和“易疲劳性”都具有显著意义，这是因为这些特征的水平较高与 nAChR 可利用度较高有关。这项研究增加了关于人格生物学基础的知识体系，并且可能有助于理解具有类似 HA 特征的精神疾病（如焦虑症）的病理生理学。研究结果可能表明，较高的胆碱能神经传递与增加的类似焦虑的特征有关。
