Anti-cocaine skin
Gene therapy will help overcome cocaine addiction
Genetically modified skin stem cells implanted into the body can become a fundamentally new method of treating cocaine addiction. They are able to break down cocaine into safe substances as soon as the drug enters the body. Tests in the laboratory showed that mice subjected to such therapy lost their cravings for cocaine, and were also able to survive a significant overdose of the drug, as a result of which all the animals of the control group died.
Scientists have long known an enzyme called butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), found mainly in blood plasma. This enzyme breaks down cocaine, but it does not have sufficient speed and is soon excreted from the blood, so by itself it cannot help people who have drug addiction. However, scientists from Chicago decided to make a change in the gene responsible for the synthesis of the enzyme, which will cause cells to produce a modified form of BChE, 4,400 times more effective than a natural enzyme.
Testing of this method was carried out on mice who had cocaine addiction. Mice skin stem cells were genetically modified, then clusters of modified cells were implanted under their skin, where they could secrete an enzyme into the blood. A blood test showed that consistently high levels of BChE persisted for at least ten weeks. As a result, the mice needed less cocaine than the control group. And they were also able to withstand a fatal overdose level (up to 160 mg per kilogram of body weight).
The lead author of the study, Professor of the University of Chicago Ming Xu (Ming Xu) believes that this method has prospects for the treatment of people with cocaine addiction. He will be able to make them immune to cocaine and protect them from fatal overdoses. Laboratory studies show that implanted groups of cells remain in the body for many years. The authors of the study are already conducting experiments on the therapy of alcohol and nicotine addiction using genetically modified stem cells and are preparing to begin research on the therapy of opioid addiction. The mice involved in the experiment had no side effects, but Ming Xu promises that scientists will study this issue in detail.
The results of the study are published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering.
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