ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 14, 1995 TAG: 9512140050
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: Associated Press
Scientists have developed an experimental cocaine vaccine that blocks the drug's powerfully seductive ``high'' by spawning antibodies that mop up drug particles in the bloodstream before they reach the brain.
If it proves effective, the vaccine could be used to treat overdoses, ease addicts' cravings and maybe even reduce addiction, said Alan Leshner, a neuroscientist and director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Psychological and behavioral techniques are used now to treat cocaine addiction. Various experimental drugs are being studied, but none has shown more than very modest results, said Frank Focus, a pharmacologist with the national institute.
``I believe the single most important thing this country needs to solve the cocaine problem is to develop a medication - either for overdose or for craving,'' Leshner said.
The vaccine blocked the behavioral signs of cocaine addiction in rats and markedly reduced the amount of cocaine in their brains, according to a report published today in the journal Nature.
``This is the first published report of the production of antibodies to block cocaine's transport to the brain,'' Leshner said.
It is not known how long the vaccine's effects would persist in the human body. But it should be possible to give booster shots, as with tetanus immunizations.
Among other unknowns is whether the vaccine, in addition to preventing a high, will ease or eliminate cocaine addiction.
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