A new study from UC San Diego in La Jolla and the National Institute on Drug Abuse points to what researchers consider a promising biochemical approach to reverse the cycle of cocaine addiction — all without blocking what scientists call natural rewards.
Scott Sternson of UC San Diego’s Department of Neurosciences was a leader of a recent study on a new biomedical approach to fighting addiction. (Matt Staley / HHMI)
Addictive drugs like cocaine launch a cycle of seeking and ingesting the drug. One of the key elements of the new study was ensuring that treatments don’t dampen the same neural responses that enable people to enjoy the positive feelings they receive from activities such as eating and exercising.
“Part of the reason it’s so hard to treat drug addiction is because they essentially hijack brain circuits that are involved in processing natural rewards and essentially overstimulate those when these addictive drugs are ingested,” said Scott Sternson, a study leader from UCSD’s Department of Neurosciences.
“It’s a problem to interfere with that system because it messes up all the natural rewards. So the trick there was to be able to modify that system so it would only get turned off when cocaine was in the system.”
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The study, conducted over several years, uses an approach that engineers artificial proteins (referred to as ion channels) in the brain that are activated by and bound to cocaine.
As a result, brain cell activity is changed and therefore the positive feedback loop seen in addiction is effectively reversed.
“The key is to only have that engaged when the drug is in the system,” Sternson said.
The research, published Aug. 27 in the scientific journal Nature, found that cocaine-seeking behavior in rats decreased with the new approach.
Researchers hope it can provide a treatment option for people addicted to cocaine as well as other substances. But future use will depend on further research and effectiveness in human trials.
“This is a system that’s selective for cocaine … but I think what’s exciting is that … such a proof of concept … was demonstrated by this study,” Sternson said. “So now we’re very interested in developing receptors that bind to more drugs like methamphetamine and alcohol or other systems that are severe public health concerns.
“The ultimate potential application for this might be as a gene therapy to treat addictions … for people that are unable to kick their habit any other way. It’s sort of a last resort.”
