New vaccine blocks cocaine.
In early animal trials and a small human study, researchers have developed vaccines that trigger the immune system to block cocaine before it reaches the brain’s reward center.
Without that dopamine-driven “high,” the brain doesn’t get the same pleasure from the drug, which may reduce the urge to use it. In the U.S., a team at Weill Cornell gave a monthly injection to seven people with severe addiction.
Their urine tested cocaine-free 17% more often than that of those who got a placebo. Meanwhile, a Brazilian team from the Federal University of Minas Gerais is working on a different vaccine called Calixcoca. It uses synthetic molecules to trigger antibodies that trap cocaine in the bloodstream. In mice and monkeys, the vaccine caused no major side effects and showed that less cocaine reached the brain. Human trials are next, with over 3,000 volunteers already signed up. The researchers believe their vaccine design is safer and cheaper than previous versions because it avoids protein carriers, which caused side effects in older trials. Past efforts to create drug vaccines have mostly failed, often because the immune response was too weak or didn’t last.
There’s also a risk that users might take larger doses to overpower the vaccine. The Brazilian team says their goal is to make cocaine use less rewarding-and more expensive-by making the drug ineffective unless taken in high, dangerous amounts. Experts say that even if the vaccine works, therapy and support will still be needed, since addiction also involves memory, emotions, and behavior.
Source: https://www.newscientist.com/