The vaccine proposed by a kiwi scientist could combat drug addiction

A New Zealand scientist is studying a new vaccine against drug addiction, which would teach our immune system to reject specific drugs before they can trigger excesses.

Researchers have been unsuccessfully trying to create such an intervention since the 1970s.

Dr. Benjamin Compton felt that failures were not about the concept itself, but about the design of the vaccines themselves.

The University of Victoria's chemistry researcher – who has already been instrumental in developing treatments for cancer immunotherapy, asthma, influenza and malaria – aims to create a vaccine Synthetic that works in a completely different way from the one tested so far.

The New Zealand Drug Foundation reports that 45,000 New Zealanders receive support to reduce their alcohol and drug use each year – which would only represent one-third of those who face problems with alcohol and drugs. use.

The Ministry of Health estimates the cost of addictions and interventions at $ 1.8 billion.

In collaboration with Dr. Lisa Connor, an immunologist, Compton plans to create a vaccine platform that can generate an immune response to small drug compounds.
If successful, the vaccine would avoid the use of proteins to activate the immune system.

The ultimate goal is to ask the immune system to recognize a specific drug when it enters the blood and treat it as a toxin.

This means that the antibodies would bind to the targeted drug at the periphery and prevent it from crossing the blood-brain barrier where it would normally interact with the receptors and cause a strong reaction.

"This goal would pave the way for a new paradigm in immunopharmacotherapy," said Compton, who has just received a $ 150,000 grant from the Health Research Council for his work.

"And most importantly, we aim to design a vaccine that can be mass-produced at a low cost."

Vaccines are one of the most cost-effective and powerful health interventions available, said Compton, and he said it should be possible to vaccinate against drug addiction.

"In the end, what we are trying to do, is to generate a robust response of B cells – an antibody response – to specific drug targets."

Traditionally, this was done by first generating a T cell response – these white blood cells that defend us against infections and diseases – which, in turn, reinforced the response of B cells.

However, because of the complexity of the human body, generating the desired T cell response could be tricky.

Cellular processing and protein presentation varied from one person to another, which could be partly responsible for earlier failures in the development of vaccines for the treatment of drug addiction. .

Compton expects its new vaccine to improve T-cell response or, even better, directly activate B-cells independently of T-cell response.

But even if its vaccine can activate B cells directly, this might not be enough – and the key to making this type of vaccine effective is to make sure it also drives a memory response to the drug.

"We are trying to understand the simplest way to activate B cells so that they can invoke a memory response to compounds that otherwise would not be recognized by the immune system."

Compton would start testing his vaccine on mice and, if he could prove that the concept worked, it could be revolutionary.

"This technology will be really useful for addicts who want to break free from their addiction.If this person comes into contact with the drug, a vaccine will ensure that drug-taking behavior will not be rewarded."

Professor Kath McPherson, Director of the Health Research Council, said the research addresses a major area of ​​concern for individual and public health.

"Substance abuse is a serious problem worldwide, which not only results in personal injury, death and a reduced quality of life, but also a huge cost to our health care system in hospitalizations and emergency consultations, treatments and advice, "she said.

"A vaccine may be the way to the future, and if Dr. Compton can provide a proof of concept, it could be a breakthrough in the development of a vaccine in the future. "

Device for revealing cancer at an early stage

Meanwhile, another of the council's 15 prospecting grants has been awarded to a leading cancer researcher who hopes to create an implanted device that can systematically detect cancer at an early stage.

Professor Parry Guilford, an expert in genetics and cancer biology at the University of Otago, has proposed an "indwelling device" that can transform survival to cancer.

The device would be inserted into the body and left there for a while, in order to capture a new generation of "biomarkers" of cancer, called "tumor DNA", called circulating tumor DNA.

These markers are not only able to reveal cancer traces with incredible specificity, but can also detect most types of cancer.

However, its sensitivity is modest for early stage diseases, because of the small number of tdNA molecules that can be purified from a standard 8 ml blood sample.

"It works well for advanced disease, but lacks sensitivity to detect cancer at an early stage, when surgical cure is still possible," says Guilford.

"We are proposing to develop a permanent device capable of capturing more than 36 times more cDNA over a 30-minute period, which will allow this technology to routinely detect cancer at an early stage.

"We think this will allow the majority of tumors to be diagnosed while they are still small enough to be cured by surgery."