Caffeine increases striatal dopamine D2/D3 receptor availability in the human brain
Volkow ND, Wang GJ, Logan J, Alexoff D, Fowler JS, Thanos PK, Wong C, Casado V, Ferre S, Tomasi D
Translational psychiatry · 109 citations
How it was studied
- Design
- Randomized controlled trial (classified by our AI screen)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
- Government
- National Institutes of Health
- Government
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
- Government
- Intramural NIH HHS
Based on 3 listed funder(s).
Publication
- Published
- 2015-04-14 · Transl Psychiatry · vol. 5 · issue 4 · p. e549
- Publisher
- Springer Nature
- Cited
- 166 citations · more than 99% of similar papers · 10.8× the field average
- Impact
- Top 10% most cited in its field
- References
- 59 works
- Access
- Open access (journal) · CC-BY
- Research areas
- Coffee research and impacts · Adenosine and Purinergic Signaling · Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Keywords
- Raclopride, Caffeine, Dopamine receptor D2, Adenosine A2A receptor, Striatum, Ventral striatum, Dopamine receptor D3, Internal medicine, Endocrinology, Modafinil, Pharmacology, Dopamine, Receptor, Adenosine receptor, Chemistry, Medicine, Agonist
- MeSH
- brain, neostriatum, caudate nucleus, putamen, humans, raclopride, dopamine, caffeine, receptors, dopamine d2, receptor, adenosine a2a, dopamine antagonists, central nervous system stimulants, positron-emission tomography, affect, arousal, blood pressure, heart rate, adult, middle aged, male, receptors, dopamine d3, ventral striatum
10 authors
From US, ES
- Nora D. Volkow · correspondingNational Institutes of Health; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
- G. J. WangNational Institutes of Health; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
- Jean LoganBrookhaven National Laboratory
- David AlexoffBrookhaven National Laboratory
- Joanna S. FowlerBrookhaven National Laboratory
- Panayotis K. ThanosBrookhaven National Laboratory
Abstract
Caffeine, the most widely consumed psychoactive substance in the world, is used to promote wakefulness and enhance alertness. Like other wake-promoting drugs (stimulants and modafinil), caffeine enhances dopamine (DA) signaling in the brain, which it does predominantly by antagonizing adenosine A2A receptors (A2AR). However, it is unclear if caffeine, at the doses consumed by humans, increases DA release or whether it modulates the functions of postsynaptic DA receptors through its interaction with adenosine receptors, which modulate them. We used positron emission tomography and [(11)C]raclopride (DA D2/D3 receptor radioligand sensitive to endogenous DA) to assess if caffeine increased DA release in striatum in 20 healthy controls. Caffeine (300 mg p.o.) significantly increased the availability of D2/D3 receptors in putamen and ventral striatum, but not in caudate, when compared with placebo. In addition, caffeine-induced increases in D2/D3 receptor availability in the ventral striatum were associated with caffeine-induced increases in alertness. Our findings indicate that in the human brain, caffeine, at doses typically consumed, increases the availability of DA D2/D3 receptors, which indicates that caffeine does not increase DA in the striatum for this would have decreased D2/D3 receptor availability. Instead, we interpret our findings to reflect an increase in D2/D3 receptor levels in striatum with caffeine (or changes in affinity). The association between increases in D2/D3 receptor availability in ventral striatum and alertness suggests that caffeine might enhance arousal, in part, by upregulating D2/D3 receptors.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher (CC BY).
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