Developing New Drugs To Treat Addiction

DRUGS FOR DRUG ADDICTS –

Sept. 3, 2024 – There are a limited number of medications for opioids, nicotine, and alcohol. But for drugs that fall under the categories of cannabis, polysubstance, or stimulants like cocaine and methamphetamine, there are no FDA-approved options at all. Unfortunately, these addictions can be deadly.

While naloxone can rapidly treat opioid overdoses, no medications can reverse the effects of a stimulant drug overdose.

Despite the hurdles, researchers are developing many new treatment strategies for these often-neglected substance use disorders that target genes, recruit the immune system, or engineer new small molecule drugs.

“I’m very optimistic that we will get there, it’s just going to require more time and harder work,” said Nestler.

One strategy to treat drug addiction is to prevent the drug from reaching the brain in the first place. Psychiatrist Michael Hooten and immunologist Kah Whye Peng at the Mayo Clinic are testing a souped-up version of a butyrylcholinesterase enzyme that breaks down cocaine in the blood so rapidly that it never has a chance to travel to the brain. Their version of the enzyme gets a boost from five genetic mutations that increases its activity by 1,000 times. (Photo: Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Nora Volkow)