Smoking is the single biggest preventable health care cost to society. Recent evidence suggests that the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (Pparα) gene contributes to brain signaling essential for the addictive effects of nicotine. In this study, we developed the techniques to analyze the relationship between methylation of the Pparα gene promoter and nicotine consumption in brain regions that are relevant to drug reward. We showed that the isoschizomers, MspI and HpaII, can be used for DNA methylation analysis with Real-Time PCR to detect differences in methylation of the Pparα promoter within the frontal cortex, cerebellum, hippocampus, hypothalamus, ventral midbrain, and striatum. Furthermore, a preliminary test of the Pparα promoter of a nicotine-exposed mouse suggests there may be higher methylation in the frontal cortex and ventral midbrain, compared to a control mouse. These results suggest that future work should be pursued to test whether nicotine modulates the methylation pattern of the Pparα gene.
