New strategy to treat cocaine addiction

A new monkey study has found a way to treat cocaine addiction with an 'alternative' drug that mimics cocaine's effects but is less addictive - this is similar to the treatment of nicotine and heroin addiction.

At the annual meeting of the American Pharmacology and Experimental Society in San Diego, Calif., Scientists at Wake Forest College of Pharmacy said treatment of monkeys with amphetamine significantly reduced the Depends on cocaine for about a month.

Dr. Paul Czoty, author - professor of physiology and pharmacology, said: 'This shows the possibility of developing an amphetamine-like drug to treat cocaine addiction. The study also demonstrated the usefulness of conducting monkey experiments to test potential treatments'.

According to Czoty, the work of developing a cure for cocaine addiction has been going on for decades but little is achieved. "We have drugs for heroin and tobacco abuse, but there is no FDA-approved method for cocaine," he said.

With heroin and tobacco, the treatment is to replace addictive substances with a drug that has the same effect on the body, but is less likely to cause abuse.

Cocaine (Photo: wordpress.com)

Czoty stressed: 'With this method, medical researchers have turned to existing drugs, including amphetamine. Although amphetamine may not be the most effective method, it also allows us to demonstrate the concept of using an alternative drug in the fight against cocaine addiction.

Amphetamine has been used in medical research and has certain achievements. His research on monkeys can help identify the right dose and duration of alternative medicine - as well as evaluate participants and estimate possible side effects.

In the study, a monkey was taught how to press a lever multiple times to get food and a cocaine injection. After each injection, the number of needed levers increased, so the animal had to work harder to get cocaine.

'This process estimates the intensity of the mandatory effect of opium doses.' Czoty explained. 'Each injection requires more movement and will eventually come to a point where it is of no value to monkeys because it has to be pressed more than 1,000 times.'

Cocaine was not used anymore and the monkey was given amphetamine 24 hours a day. One week after reusing cocaine, the monkey significantly reduced its response to cocaine. They tried three different doses of amphetamine and found that a moderate dose was most effective. Although this treatment also reduces the number of lever strokes to get food - this may be a side effect in humans - this effect disappears after a week, affecting the response to cocaine that lasts within one month.

'This is a very positive result, just as we expected. The use of cocaine has decreased significantly - about 60%. '

Scientists are recreating the study with other animals. They hope the research could lead to finding a drug that differs slightly but still produces results similar to amphetamine.

Czoty suggests that this study is significant because it and other studies on monkeys repeat what has been found in small human studies. This proves that animals can be used to test some other treatments. For example, researchers are planning to test topiramate (Topamax®), an anticonvulsant that is sometimes used to treat epilepsy and can be effective in treating alcoholism.

'We have found a method that can be used to test new drugs and to anticipate their positive and negative effects.'