Training and Pilot Study Program Director, Principal Investigator for Nicotine Exposure Reduction in Rats

Contact information:
Department of Medicine
Hennepin County Medical Center
701 Park Avenue S.
Minneapolis, MN 55415
Office: 612-347-6426
pente001@umn.edu

Paul Pentel, M.D., is a Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Pharmacology at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He is Chief of the Division of Clinical Pharmacology, and Director of the Clinical Therapeutics Program at Hennepin County Medical Center. Dr. Pentel also serves as the Training and Pilot Study Director for the Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center (TTURC) at the University of Minnesota and is one of the Center's principal investigators in harm reduction due to tobacco exposure.

Dr. Pentel received his medical degree from Stanford Medical School. His primary research interests are in toxicology, mechanisms of addiction, and development of treatment medications. He is board member of the Association for Nonsmokers, and is President of the Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation. He served previously on the Research Advisory Committee for the Minnesota Partnership for Action Against Tobacco.

Dr. Pentel has served as a grant reviewer for the National Institutes of Health, Veterans Adminsitration, National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, and Luxemburg National Research Fund. He has been a member of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Poison Control and Prevention, and an advisor to the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Vaccines and Depot Medications for Drug Addiction. He served previously on the editorial board for the Journal of Toxicology/Clinical Toxicology and as editor for the Internet Journal of Medical Toxicology.

Selected Recent Publications

1. LeSage MG, Keyler DE, Hieda Y, Collins G, Burroughs D, Le C, Pentel PR. Effects of a nicotine conjugate vaccine on the acquisition and maintenance of nicotine self-administration. Psychopharmacol 2006;184:409-16.
2. Pentel PR, Dufek MB, Roiko SA, LeSage MG, Keyler DE. Differential effects of passive immunization with nicotine-specific antibodies on the acute and chronic distribution of nicotine to brain in rats. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 2006;317:660-66.
3. LeSage MG, Burroughs D, Pentel PR. Effects of nicotine withdrawal on performance under a progressive-ratio of sucrose delivery in rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2006;83:585-91.
4. Skott M, Andreassen TT, Ulrich-Vinther M, Chen X, Keyler DE, LeSage MG, Pentel PR, Bechtold JE, Soballe K. Tobacco extract but not nicotine impairs the mechanical strength of fracture healing in rats. J Orthopaedic Res 2006;24:1472-79.
5. Pentel PR, LeSage MG, Dufek M, Keyler DE. Changes in maternal and fetal nicotine distribution after maternal administration of monoclonal nicotine-specific antibody to rats. Int Immunopharmacol 2006;6:1665-72.
6. Hennrikus DJ, Lando HA, McCarty MC, Klevan D, Holtan N, Hubsch J, Jestus S, Pentel PR, Pine D, Sullivan S, Swenson K, Vessey J. The TEAM Project: The Effectiveness of Smoking Cessation Intervention with Hospital Patients. Prev Med 2005 40:249-58.
7. Keyler DE, Dufek MB, Calvin AD, Bramwell TJ, LeSage MG, Raphael DE, Ross CA, Le CT, Pentel PR. Reduced nicotine distribution from mother to fetal brain in rats vaccinated against nicotine: Time course and influence of nicotine dosing regimen. Biochem Pharmacol 2005;69:1385-95.
8. Keyler DE, Roiko SA, Benlhabib E, LeSage MG, St. Peter JV, Stewart S, Fuller S, Le CT, Pentel PR. Monoclonal nicotine-specific antibodies reduce nicotine distribution to brain in rats: Dose- and affinity-response relationship. Drug Metab Disp 2005;33:1056-61.
9. Hatsukami DE, Rennard S, Jorenby D, Fiore M, Koopmeiners J, deVos A, Horwith G, Pentel PR. Safety and immunogenicity of a nicotine conjugate vaccine in current smokers. Clin Pharm Ther 2005;78:456-467.
10. Nekhayeva IA, Nanovskaya TN, Pentel PR, Keyler DE, Hankins GD, Ahmed MS. Effects of nicotine-specific antibodies, Nic311 and Nic-IgG, on the transfer of nicotine across the human placenta. Biochem Pharmacol 2005;70:1664-72.
11. Pentel PR, Nelson B, Wikelius N, Cooper C. Hospital-based program for increasing the availability of emergency contraception: Simulating nonprescription access. Am J Health Systems Pharmacy 2004;61:777-780.
12. LeSage MG, Burroughs D, Dufek M, Keyler DE, Pentel PR. Reinstatement of nicotine self-administration in rats by presentation of nicotine-paired stimuli, but not nicotine priming. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2004;79:507-513. 83.
13. Keyler DE, Shoeman D, LeSage MG, Calvin AD, Pentel PR. Maternal vaccination against nicotine reduces nicotine distribution to fetal brain in rats. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 2003;305:597-592.
14. Hennrikus D, Pentel PR, Sandell SD. Preferences and practices among renters regarding smoking restrictions in apartment buildings. Tobacco Control 2003;12:189-194.
15. Hatsukami DE, Jensen J, Brauer LH, Mooney M, Schulte S, Sufuoglu M, Pentel PR. Lack of effect of 5HT3 antagonist in mediating the subjective and behavioral responses to cotinine. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2003;75:1-7.
16. Satoskar SD, Keyler DE, LeSage MG, Raphael, DE, Ross, CA, Pentel PR. Tissue-dependent effects of immunization with a nicotine conjugate vaccine on the distribution of nicotine in rats. Int Immunopharmacol 2003;3:957-970.
17. LeSage MG, Keyler DE, Collins G, Pentel PR. Effects of continuous nicotine infusion on nicotine self-administration in rats: Relationship between continuously infused and self-administered nicotine doses and serum concentrations. Psychopharmacol 2003;170:278-286.
18. Keyler DE, Collins G, Pentel PR, Murphy S. Effects of nicotine infusion on the formation of carcinogenic metabolites from the tobacco nitrosamine NNK [4-methylnitrosamine)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone] in rats. Cancer Letters 2003;202:1-9.
19. LeSage MG, Keyler DE, Shoeman D, Raphael D, Collns G, Pentel PR. Continuous nicotine infusion reduces nicotine self-administration in rats with 23 hour/day access to nicotine. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2002;72:279-289.