New Treatment for cocaine addiction

New Treatment for cocaine addiction

By Justine Wangui (Science Africa correspondent)

justinewangui@gmail.com

A new drug that has the potential to treat cocaine addiction has been discovered. This has been revealed by a recent demonstration of  laboratory cocaine study by a team from the University of Adelaide in South Australia and the University of Colorado, in the United States. The study results concluded that cocaine addiction could be blocked by using the drug naloxone.

 The team leader, Alexis Northcutt, from the Center for Neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder affirmed that cocaine interacts with an immune receptor- TLR4 (Toll- Like receptor) to produce a pro-inflammatory effect in the brain.

"We've demonstrated conclusively that cocaine interacts with TLR4 to produce a pro-inflammatory effect in the brain. The effect is necessary to convey the drug's rewarding effects. Without it, reward is greatly reduced," he said, “Combined with our previous work, this suggests that the immune signaling may be a key mechanism underlying the rewarding and reinforcing effects of drugs such as opioids, cocaine, and potentially other abused substances, like methamphetamine and alcohol."

Studies have shown that TLR4 amplifies the addiction to drugs such as heroin but this is the first discovery of TLR4’s key role in cocaine addiction.

"Our previous studies have shown that TLR4 is responsible for amplifying addiction to opioid drugs such as heroin, but this is the first time we've discovered it has a key role to play in cocaine addiction," says Professor Mark Hutchinson, ARC Research Fellow in the University of Adelaide's School of Medical Sciences.

Naloxone is now capable of stopping TLR4 from amplifying addiction by two major drugs."The cocaine study has had the same result, which is unique in itself. We now have two major drugs of addiction that are both being amplified by TLR4, which we can stop through the use of naloxone," says Professor Hutchinson, who is also Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale Bio Photonics  at the University of Adelaide.

"These are very exciting and encouraging results. It means that we could potentially see a single intervention for a wide range of addictions in the future," he added.

Source: Jim Plouffe <editorial@theleadsouthaustralia.com.au>