14 DAY TRIAL // A recent paper in the American Chemical Society's journal Molecular Pharmaceutics describes a new vaccine that researchers believe could make it easier for cocaine addicts to kick the habit.
The vaccine in question, developed by scientist Kim D. Janda and his colleagues at the Scripps Research Institute, has so far only been tested on laboratory mice. Still, the researchers who develop it say that, during these experiments, it showed great promise.
How the vaccine works
As explained in the Molecular Pharmaceutics study describing this novel way to tackle cocaine addiction, the vaccine is based on a protein harvested from bacteria. This protein is dubbed flagellin and is already used to make various other vaccines.
Specialist Kim D. Janda and fellow researchers say that their vaccine works by dulling the drug's psychoactive effects on the body. Specifically, the vaccine blocks the drug from toying with the brain and triggering the experiences that make people addicted to it.
The scientists go on to detail that the vaccine prevents cocaine from causing the responses people are supposed to experience when using it by compelling the body's natural defense mechanisms to take up arms against the drug.
“Their strategy, which they tested on mice, harnesses a bacterial protein to trigger an immune system attack on the drug if it enters the body. This response could dull cocaine’s psychotropic effects and potentially help users of the drug kick the habit.”
“The strategy, the researchers conclude, opens up a new avenue for designing vaccines against drugs of abuse,” reads an American Chemical Society report detailing Kim D. Janda's and his colleagues' at the Scripps Researcher Institute work.
Not an entirely new idea
True, the majority of the vaccines that scientists have so far developed serve to fight infections, be they bacterial or viral. However, researchers say that vaccines can also be used to train the immune system to react to substances such as cocaine and other drugs.
Hence, it might be possible to help drug addicts kick the habit by teaching their immune system to take on their drug of choice and dull its effects on the body. This should make it easier to overcome the addiction, researchers explain.
Just to put things into perspective, it must be said that, back in 2011, a survey counted as many as 1.4 million cocaine users in the US. With the help of the vaccine developed by researcher Kim D. Janda and his colleagues, many of these people could overcome their addiction.