Illegal drug addiction is a crisis that has become increasingly more prevalent in today’s society. In addition, the use of cocaine in developing countries has added to this high prevalence of drug addiction. Because of this is a growing epidemic the need for effective treatment for cocaine addiction is necessary.
In recent years, studies have been performed that call upon the immune system to make antibodies that can capture cocaine like molecules and prevent them from being translocated into the central nervous system. These studies have brought on the usage of vaccines to assist in reducing the addictive nature of cocaine. However, because individuals respond differently to vaccines, for various reasons, a robust vaccine based on drug concentrations and antibody-binding capacities is needed. Anticocaine vaccines may be useful for people who are motivated to stop abusing cocaine and also possess the anticocaine antibodies in high level. For those that do not have these specific antibodies kicking the addiction will prove to be more difficult.
Although these methods are relatively new, by having a great understanding of immunoregulation we can find ways to increase the immune system's response to cocaine.
Citation:
Frank M Orson, Rongfu Wang, Stephen Brimijoin, Berma M Kinsey, Rana AK Singh, Muthu Ramakrishnan, Helen Y Wang & Thomas R Kosten (2014) The future potential for cocaine vaccines, Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy, 14:9, 1271-1283, DOI: 10.1517/14712598.2014.920319
Because drugs are often very similar to natural chemicals in the body, has there been any evidence of adverse effects such as depression brought on by the vaccines also targeting these natural chemicals?
ReplyDeleteHave there been any consisted data proving that these vaccines work in terms of battling addiction and high levels of cocaine? Is there any evidence that suggest that these vaccines may have negative side effects that could possibly result in the individual having a harder withdraw from the drug?
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