BIOLOGIC TREATMENT FOR ADDICTION  [ back to What's New ]
Two new discoveries hold promise for future biologic treatments for addiction. In March 2001 James Bibb and Paul Greengard at the Rockefeller University in Manhattan announced they had identified an enzyme called cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) which increased in the brains of mice in direct proportion to the amount of cocaine fed to them. Mice fed lots of coke had much higher levels of Cdk5. They postulate that Cdk5 blocks the body's response to cocaine thus forcing the addict to ingest ever larger quantities to get the same high. To block Cdk5 without disturbing essential activities of the dopamine pathways (such as attention and mood) will require a lot of work. The Neuroscience Newsletter (May-June 2001) reports another development, the trial of a vaccine to stimulate antibodies that will detect, trap and inactivate target drugs such as cocaine. Experiments with the vaccine have rendered rats indifferent to cocaine and PCP. The vaccine has not yet been tested on humans. Improved treatment is needed, since some 13 million Americans abuse drugs on a regular basis, because of the euphoria they experience from taking them.