Cocaine Vaccine

[AFK]

http://www.jointogether.org/news/research/summaries/2009/cocaine-vaccine-cuts-drug.html

Some patients given an experimental cocaine vaccine were able to substantially reduce their use of the drug, according to research funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

In the study, 115 cocaine-using patients enrolled in a methadone maintenance program were given either the vaccine or a placebo over a 12-week period, then tracked for another 12 weeks. Participants received relapse-prevention counseling and had their blood tested for the presence of cocaine; urine tests also were used to screen for cocaine and opiate use.

The vaccine works by stimulating the immune system to create anti-cocaine antibodies that attach themselves to cocaine molecules in the blood, making them too large to pass into the brain. Researchers found that 38 percent of subjects were able to produce antibodies in sufficient amounts to block cocaine's effects, and of these, 53 percent were abstinent more than half the time during the study period, compared to 23 percent of the control group.

The high-antibody group also had more cocaine-free urine samples overall than those who received the placebo or generated lower levels of antibodies. "In this study immunization did not achieve complete abstinence from cocaine use," said lead researcher Thomas Kosten, M.D., of the Baylor College of Medicine. "Previous research has shown, however, that a reduction in use is associated with a significant improvement in cocaine abusers' social functioning and thus is therapeutically meaningful."

"The results of this study represent a promising step toward an effective medical treatment for cocaine addiction," said NIDA Director Nora Volkow. "Provided that larger follow-up studies confirm its safety and efficacy, this vaccine would offer a valuable new approach to treating cocaine addiction, for which no FDA-approved medication is currently available."

This is pretty interesting.  I wonder if this could be applied to other drugs. 

[LMNO]

"Too large to pass into the brain"?


Why am I suddenly thinking about mini-strokes?

[Cain]

Hurrah, this means I'll no longer catch cocaine during the winter!

Seriously though, that is pretty interesting.  Combined with other forms of treatment, I can see it being effective.  I mean, if its not working for you, and you have people who will help you deal with the problems of addiction, then that's going a long way towards helping them.

[Iason Ouabache]

It bugs me that they are calling it a vaccine when there are no viruses involved. I guess they are right since it changes the immune system but it still sounds weird to me.

[Cain]

FUCK YOU MY MOM DIED FROM A VIRAL INFECTION OF SWINE-COCAINE!

[Kai]

Reminds me of the stuff we've been talking about in my molecular biology course.

[Richter]

"Too large to pass into the brain"?


Why am I suddenly thinking about mini-strokes?

Still on the molecular scale though, if I follow correctly.  It's EASY for a molecule to be too big to cross the blood-brain barrier, yet still small enough to go through capillaries with ease. 

[Template]

I remember reading about cocaine-targeted antibodies I-don't-know-when.  Interesting to see they're still at it.

[MornTheOrator]

I'm trying deeply to find beneficial effect of this drug that seems to be a cocaine blocker that uses the immune system as a bypass that goes far beyond simply taking less cocaine, or taking no cocaine at all. Thus far I am bested by this problem of life.

Maybe one day.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I'm trying deeply to find beneficial effect of this drug that seems to be a cocaine blocker that uses the immune system as a bypass that goes far beyond simply taking less cocaine, or taking no cocaine at all. Thus far I am bested by this problem of life.

Maybe one day.

It's for addicts who want to quit but are having a hard time.

[Xooxe]

I wonder whether it affects cocaine based dental anesthetics. They'll probably have that covered anyway.

[Bruno]

I wonder how long the vaccine lasts.

I also wonder how long before parents are getting their kids vaccinated for drug abuse.

[MornTheOrator]

I'm trying deeply to find beneficial effect of this drug that seems to be a cocaine blocker that uses the immune system as a bypass that goes far beyond simply taking less cocaine, or taking no cocaine at all. Thus far I am bested by this problem of life.

Maybe one day.

It's for addicts who want to quit but are having a hard time.

I know, but what it apparently does is simply making cocaine less effective.

So,  what you can either do is simply take less to achieve the same effect.
Or you take the 'vaccine', and if you don 't have the willpower you're just going to use more cocaine to compensate for that it loses its effect and steal a car radio extra to finance this.

So unless I understand some part of this completely wrong, I'm really lost to how this could in any way be beneficial.

[Kai]

I'm trying deeply to find beneficial effect of this drug that seems to be a cocaine blocker that uses the immune system as a bypass that goes far beyond simply taking less cocaine, or taking no cocaine at all. Thus far I am bested by this problem of life.

Maybe one day.

It's for addicts who want to quit but are having a hard time.

I know, but what it apparently does is simply making cocaine less effective.

So,  what you can either do is simply take less to achieve the same effect.
Or you take the 'vaccine', and if you don 't have the willpower you're just going to use more cocaine to compensate for that it loses its effect and steal a car radio extra to finance this.

So unless I understand some part of this completely wrong, I'm really lost to how this could in any way be beneficial.

Drug addiction is more than just achieving the same neurotransmitter levels. Drug abuse is also about the environment in which you abuse, the sensory information involved in that. This is why giving suckers to nicotine addicts can be helpful because it gives them something to hold on to that simulates a cigarette.

A heavy coccaine user will keep taking coccaine likely, but a "vaccine" will wean them from the affect over time. Cold turkey has intense withdrawl symptoms.

And before you say it, no, they don't have that sort of self control.

[MornTheOrator]

I'm trying deeply to find beneficial effect of this drug that seems to be a cocaine blocker that uses the immune system as a bypass that goes far beyond simply taking less cocaine, or taking no cocaine at all. Thus far I am bested by this problem of life.

Maybe one day.

It's for addicts who want to quit but are having a hard time.

I know, but what it apparently does is simply making cocaine less effective.

So,  what you can either do is simply take less to achieve the same effect.
Or you take the 'vaccine', and if you don 't have the willpower you're just going to use more cocaine to compensate for that it loses its effect and steal a car radio extra to finance this.

So unless I understand some part of this completely wrong, I'm really lost to how this could in any way be beneficial.

Drug addiction is more than just achieving the same neurotransmitter levels. Drug abuse is also about the environment in which you abuse, the sensory information involved in that. This is why giving suckers to nicotine addicts can be helpful because it gives them something to hold on to that simulates a cigarette.

A heavy coccaine user will keep taking coccaine likely, but a "vaccine" will wean them from the affect over time. Cold turkey has intense withdrawl symptoms.

And before you say it, no, they don't have that sort of self control.

Yeah, but nicotine patches are the logical inverse of this. Nicotine patches: You don't take the drug any more but you take some other thing that in reduced measure puts the effective substance in your system. The vaccine: You keep taking the drug but you take some other thing that reduces the effect of the effective substance in your system.

This thing should do the inverse of letting them quit, it makes them take more of it. It's the same thing as that people start tot take more and more of it because after a while it loses its effect. Same with this stuff, it just makes it lose its effect.