New Compound May Combat Cocaine Addiction by Targeting the Brain

A novel compound may just help cocaine users get over their addiction. Researchers have found that the compound targets an important brain receptor and has a dramatic effect against cocaine addiction behaviors, including relapse behavior.

The compound is known as RO5263397. It targets a receptor in the brain known as TAAR 1, which is activated by minute amounts of brain chemicals called trace amines.

"Because TAAR 1 anatomically and neurochemically is closely related to dopamine-one of the key molecules in the brain that contributes to cocaine addiction-and is thought to be a 'brake' on dopamine activity, drugs that stimulate TAAR 1 may be able to counteract cocaine addiction," said Jun-Xu Li, one of the researchers, in a news release.

In fact, the scientists tested RO5263397 in animal models of human cocaine abuse. This drug stimulated the TAAR 1 receptors, which counteracted cocaine. To test whether it had an effect, the researchers examined whether the animals perceived cocaine as rewarding or not. It turned out that the rats given RO5263397 didn't see cocaine as rewarding.

"Cocaine users often stay clean for some time, but may relapse when they re-experience cocaine or hang out in the old cocaine use environments," said Li in a news release. "We found that RO5263397 markedly blocked the effect of cocaine or cocaine-related cues for priming relapse behavior. Also, when we measured how hard the animals are willing to work to get an injection of cocaine, RO5263397 reduced the animals' motivation to get cocaine."

The findings are a huge step forward when it comes to understanding and combating cocaine addiction. The scientists plan to continue studying RO5263397 as a mechanism to curb cocaine addiction. That said, more research needs to be conducted before RO5263397 is ready for use in humans. Until then, though, scientists are pursuing this path of research to hopefully help addicts in the future.

The findings are published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.