New therapy may help fight addiction



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Researchers have developed a treatment that can help reverse the chemical imbalances caused to the brain by habitual drug use and may one day help addicts recover from future use.

Animal cravings, according to results published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.

When someone usually abuses drugs, his brain chemistry is altered so that it's harder for him to stop taking drugs despite negative consequences.

Once someone has developed this brain disorder, his mind pays more attention to the signals that encourage the use of drugs, which makes it more difficult to abstain

. serotonin, a brain chemical that transmits information between neural regions. in these changes.

Researchers have found that 2C serotonin receptors in addicts do not work as well as they should.

The team led by researchers from the Medical Department of the University of Texas at Galveston in the United States has designed, synthesized and pharmacologically evaluated a series of small therapeutic molecules designed to restore impaired signaling.

help reverse the chemical imbalances caused to the brain by habitual drug use.

In their experiment, the researchers trained rats to press a lever for cocaine infusions at certain light signals.

Once the rats learned of this cocaine-seeking behavior, half of them received the most promising treatment and the other half received only physiological saline [19659011]. times that control animals treated with saline, even reinforced with the light signals associated with cocaine.

"We are the first to demonstrate that a 2C serotonin therapeutic receptor of this type can be used successfully to decrease drug-seeking behaviors," said Kathryn Cunningham, director of the Center for Research on Cancer Therapy. addiction to the medical branch of the University of Texas at Galveston.

"Our discoveries are particularly exciting because in addition to one day helping people recover from addiction, the impaired functioning of the 2C serotonin receptor would also contribute to other chronic health problems such as as depression, impulsivity, obesity and schizophrenia, "added Cunningham.

– IANS

sh / rt / gb / bg

(This story was not edited by Business Standard staff and is generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)

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