TY - JOUR T1 - Rapid Brain Nicotine Uptake from Electronic Cigarettes JF - Journal of Nuclear Medicine JO - J Nucl Med SP - 928 LP - 930 DO - 10.2967/jnumed.119.230748 VL - 61 IS - 6 AU - Kiran Kumar Solingapuram Sai AU - Yantao Zuo AU - Jed E. Rose AU - Pradeep K. Garg AU - Sudha Garg AU - Rachid Nazih AU - Akiva Mintz AU - Alexey G. Mukhin Y1 - 2020/06/01 UR - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/61/6/928.abstract N2 - This study sought to determine brain nicotine kinetics from use of the increasingly popular electronic cigarette (E-cig). Methods: In 17 E-cig users (9 men and 8 women), brain uptake of nicotine after inhalation from E-cigs was directly assessed using 11C-nicotine PET. The brain nicotine kinetics were compared with those from smoking combustible cigarettes (C-cigs). Results: A single puff of E-cig vapor caused the nicotine concentration in the brain to rise quickly (mean time to reach 50% of maximum brain nicotine concentration, 27 s), with a peak amplitude 25% higher in women than men, resembling previous observations with C-cigs. Nonetheless, the accumulation from E-cigs (24%) was less than that from C-cigs (32%) in both men and women. Conclusion: E-cigs can deliver nicotine to the brain with a rapidity similar to that of C-cigs. Therefore, to the extent that rapid brain uptake promotes smoking reward, E-cigs might maintain a degree of nicotine dependence and also serve as a noncombustible substitute for cigarettes. ER -