Brain, brain, brain.
Whenever the cholinergic system comes up, it’s all about the goddamn brain.
Cognitive function this, focus that.
Of course, it’s important.
But the real battlefield is outside the brain.
Lungs, blood vessels, muscles.
If you don’t know about the real war happening there, you’re just sucking down drugs until you bite the dust.
Especially you smokers out there.
This article is for you chain-smokers.
What we’re going to talk about in this post are the nicotinic cholinergic genes, specifically two monsters called CHRNA and CHRNB.
These bastards are switches embedded throughout your body, labeled as alpha and beta receptors.
They’re quiet normally.
But when a specific signal comes in, they’re the ones who kick open the gates to hell.
Genome-Wide Association Studies?
It’s still in its infancy, correct.
But even with the data we have so far, the picture is clear.
This bastard CHRNA is linked to all sorts of lung diseases like lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and asthma.
But there’s one hell of a funny precondition attached.
It’s smoking.
For friends who don’t smoke, this gene is just a sleeper.
But the moment you take a single drag of cigarette smoke, this bastard transforms into a fucking monster.
Why does this madness specifically happen in the lungs?
Because nicotinic receptors aren’t only in the brain.
They’re laid out like hell all over muscle tissue and the lungs.
And these receptors aren’t naive little things that only respond to nicotine.
They react much more violently to the real assassins produced by tobacco: the carcinogens NNK and NNN.
Their names are shitty, no need to memorize them.
Just know them as NNK and NNN.
NNK, this bastard, is a carcinogen present in tobacco itself.
Nitrosamine series.
Yeah, the same stuff found in bacon and processed meats.
Even without burning it, this bastard is one of the main culprits causing cancer, even in chewing tobacco.
But what’s truly chilling is that this bastard’s binding strength, its affinity, for the nicotinic receptors in your lungs is 5,000 times higher than nicotine’s.
If nicotine is a rifle, this thing is a fucking nuclear bomb.
Once it latches onto the receptor, it has no intention of letting go.
NNN is even more vicious.
It binds to the alpha-7 receptor, which is linked to schizophrenia, with a bond over 1,000 times stronger than nicotine.
What’s more, this bastard is a mutagen.
It directly attacks and damages DNA.
It’s already been confirmed to screw up the angiotensin gene, which regulates blood pressure.
In short, when you smoke, nicotine is just the bait, and the real killers, NNK and NNN, press the switches called nicotinic receptors in your lungs, starting up the cancer cell factory.
That’s why these genes are called oncogenes.
Genes that create cancer.
Just like the BRCA gene for breast cancer, in lung cancer, these CHRNA genes play that role.
Only, they activate when you pull the trigger called tobacco.
Here’s a quick defense strategy.
There is data showing that EGCG found in green tea or cruciferous vegetables inhibits the carcinogenic activity of bastards like NNN.
If you use oral tobacco like snus, having green tea in your mouth all day could be the minimum defense line.
Of course, this is my speculation.
But if you’re gonna do it anyway, might as well try something, right?
Nicotine gum?
That’s not even worth discussing in this war.
The second battlefield for these genes is addiction.
Nicotine, cocaine, alcohol, opiates.
The types are different, but one of the ultimate targets these drugs aim for is the dopamine system.
And these nicotinic cholinergic genes act as gatekeepers, tightly controlling the gateway to that dopamine system.
Friends who have variations (polymorphisms) in these genes are more vulnerable to addiction.
There are also study results showing that friends with a specific variation in the CHRNA5 gene feel greater pleasure when they first smoke.
Greater pleasure means, of course, they get addicted faster and deeper.
This isn’t limited to just nicotine.
The severity of cocaine, methamphetamine, and alcohol addiction is also all linked to these genes.
Although the main receptors each drug acts on are different, it’s evidence that they ultimately touch the common denominator of dopamine, and in that process, this nicotinic cholinergic system is deeply involved.
Ultimately, these genes are core players that interact with the body’s most fundamental systems, the entire brain chemistry.
If you don’t know how these bastards work, you’re just floundering in a trap dug by your genes until the end.
What does this have to do with bodybuilding?
Think taking a drag on a cigarette when you’re stressed at the end of a season is just a bit of nicotine intake?
Nah.
You’re pressing the cancer switch in your lungs and strengthening the addiction circuitry in your brain—literally committing suicide.
It’s an act that eats away at your recovery, fries your nervous system, and ultimately ruins your entire season.
The conclusion is simple.
Nicotinic cholinergic genes are time bombs planted in your body.
Smoking and drug abuse are the triggers that press the switch on that bomb.
For some friends, the switch is sensitive and goes off with one press; for others, it’s a bit dull and requires multiple presses.
But the fact that it eventually goes off doesn’t change.
The gene is the gun; you’re the one pulling the trigger.
If you don’t know the system, you get eaten by the system.
Related Research Papers
1. How Nicotinic Receptors Act as Cancer Switches
This report exposes the mechanism of how nicotinic cholinergic receptors aren’t just for signal transduction but act as regulators and cancer switches directly involved in multiple stages of tumorigenesis.
It details the process of how smoked tobacco turns on this switch.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21541211/
2. Alcohol and Nicotine: The Roots of Addiction Are the Same
Whether it’s tobacco or alcohol, why are some people peculiarly prone to addiction?
This paper proves that a specific gene cluster, CHRNA5-CHRNA3-CHRNB4, is the core root involved in both alcohol and nicotine addiction.
Evidence that the same bastards open the gates to hell.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2874321/
3. The Pleasure of the First Experience: The Beginning of Addiction Embedded in Genes
Why do some friends get hooked on their first cigarette while others just cough their lungs out? The reason is right here.
It shows that variation in the CHRNA5 gene creates differences in the pleasurable excitement felt during the initial smoking experience.
Addiction is designed from this first experience.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9517777/
