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Hindi Review Article
Magnesium and Zinc Involvement in Tobacco Addiction
Mihai Nechifor*Department of Pharmacology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi, Romania
- *Corresponding Author:
- Mihai Nechifor
Department of Pharmacology
Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi 70015
Romania
Tel: 0040-744- 508642
Fax: 0040-232-259111
E-mail: mnechif@yahoo.com
Received April 17, 2012; Accepted May 18, 2012; Published May 30, 2012
Citation: Nechifor M (2012) Magnesium and Zinc Involvement in Tobacco Addiction. J Addict Res Ther S2:005. doi:10.4172/2155-6105.S2-005
Copyright: © 2012 Nechifor M. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
This paper is a review regarding magnesium and zinc influence on smoking and tobacco addiction. Magnesium and zinc are two very important bivalent cations involved in different functions of central nervous system. There are different mechanisms by which magnesium can decrease the nicotine addiction. Magnesium decrease the dopamine release and the NMDA receptor stimulation by glutamate (two essential steps in the devolopment of nicotine addiction). This cation also inhibits the synthesis of substance P and nitric oxide, others important neurotransmiters involved in addiction. Magnesium may decrease the nicotine effect on GABA synthesis and could reduce also NPY involvement in nicotine addiction. Zinc also reduces the glutamatergic brain systems activity and modulates the nicotinic receptors activity from brain. The hypomagnesemia favorises the development of tobacco addiction .The magnesium treatment can be beneficial for reducing the smoking and nicotine addiction in heavy smokers. By increasing the magnesium concentration we can moderately improve the stimulation of the reward system and can reduce the needs of stimulation by nicotine or by others addictive substances. The treatment of intracellular and plasma magnesium deficit could be way to minimize the development of tobacco smoking and nicotine addiction.
