Gene therapy for the treatment of drug addicts and alcoholics

Scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory have demonstrated in experiments on rats that increasing the level of dopamine receptors in the brain reduces cocaine use by 75% by animals with access to the drug. In an earlier work, similar results were obtained using alcohol. The authors believe that treatment based on increasing the level of D2 receptors for dopamine, a neurotransmitter that provides pleasant sensations, is a promising method of treating various types of addiction.

D2 receptors are activated when dopamine is released by brain cells. In the absence of these receptors, the dopamine-mediated signal fades and the body does not experience the fullness of pleasant sensations. Scientists have found that chronic abuse of alcohol and other addictive substances increases the production of dopamine in the brain. However, over time, these substances destroy D2 receptors and rearrange the brain in such a way that ordinary pleasant stimuli lose the ability to activate these mechanisms. The only way to achieve stimulation is to take a narcotic substance.

Researchers injected experimental rats with a harmless virus that embeds the D2 receptor gene into the brain cells of animals trained to take cocaine on their own and received it for two weeks. The virus delivered the receptor gene to the nucleus accumbens, the pleasure center of the brain, providing the ability of neurons located there to independently synthesize D2 receptors for dopamine.

As a result, the need of drug-addicted rats for cocaine decreased by 75%. This effect persisted for six days, after which the addiction resumed with the same force.

The results of the study indicate that the cocaine-dependent individual's need for the drug can be reduced by increasing the level of D2-dopamine receptors in his brain.

Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of ScienceDaily 

21.04.2008