et al., 1997). It has been proposed that nicotine increases the reinforcing properties of ethanol as they both increase dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens (Tizabi et al., 2007). Furthermore, nicotine reduces the aversive effects of ethanol, including ethanol ataxia, ethanol-induced sedation and cognitive-impairment (Gould et al., 2001; Melia et al., 1996). Ethanol’s action in the brain has been shown to be at least partly mediated by the activation of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) while most of the behavioral effects of nicotine are known to be regulated by the nAChRs (Blomqvist et al., 1992; Chatterjee and Bartlett, 2010; Chatterjee et al., 2010; Picciotto et al., 1998; Tapper et al., 2004). Central nAChRs are pentameric ligand-gated ion channels consisting of α2–α10, and β2–β4 subunits that assemble into multiple combinations (Champtiaux et al., 2003; Gotti et al., 1997).
