Scientists Target Cocaine Addiction

Abstract

WHILE EFFECTIVE MEDICATIONS foraddictionstoopioidsoralcoholhavebeenavailable for decades, clinicians must rely on behavioral therapies to treat patients who are addicted to cocaine. But that may soon changebecauseseveralexperimentaltreatmentshavedemonstratedpromiseinhelpingcurtailcocaineuseinpatientsorinanimal models of cocaine addiction. Results from an early clinical trial of a vaccine for cocaine addiction, published in October, showed that patients who achieved sufficient antibody levels reduced their cocaine use. Later that month, scientists presented data at the Society for Neuroscience’s annual meeting showing that in animal models of cocaine addiction an antibiotic and a drug used to treat acetaminophen overdose can help to normalize brain function and prevent relapse to cocaineseeking behavior. Current therapies for cocaine addiction use behavioral approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy. But these are unable to offer patients relief from the intense cravings and neurological alterations that accompany chronic cocaine use and may contribute to relapse. The new findings are stoking optimism that effective drug-based therapies for cocaine addiction may soon be available to the more than 2.7 million US residents who, according the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), are dependent on cocaine.