Vaccine to curb cocaine addiction

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, there were approximately 1.4 million people known to be addicted to cocaine across the United States in 2008. A new vaccine is currently being researched to help cocaine addicted patients quit and to stop future users from becoming addicted. The investigative vaccine, dubbed DaD5GNE and developed by Ronald Crystal, M.D., professor and chairman of genetic medicine at Weill Cornel Medical College, works by combining a cocaine-like molecule with part of the common cold virus. Once inside the body, the immune system recognizes the viral particles, which then send out antibodies that bind cocaine in blood and prevent cocaine from entering the brain. The vaccine thereby prevents interaction with dopamine transporters and eliminates an addict's ability to get a high from cocaine.   For this study, researchers evaluated a molecular imaging method for its ability to provide evidence of the vaccine's biological effect. The method, called positron emission tomography (PET), reveals physiological information about the body based on positron signals emitted by injected imaging probes. This particular technique uses a molecular imaging probe called [C-11]PE2I, a cocaine analog that allows scientists to gauge the impact of the vaccine because it, too, binds to specific proteins in the brain called dopamine transporters. PET studies of the brain show that the basal ganglia, which play a key role in the brain, are lit up like fireworks in a vaccinated brain, but are dimmer in the addicted brain because the imaging probe must compete with cocaine already interacting with dopamine transporters. "This study reaffirms the beauty of the vaccine and demonstrates that PET imaging with tracers targeting dopamine centers in the brain are a powerful tool for assessing addiction," Shankar Vallabhajosula, Ph.D., professor of radiochemistry and radiopharmacy in the department of radiology at Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University in New York City was quoted saying. This vaccine is currently being researched in animal models and will need to continue through clinical trials before it can be administered to the public to curb cocaine addiction.