New treatment effective in counteracting cocaine-induced symptomsAugust 13, 2007UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have discovered a treatment that counteracts the effects of cocaine on the human cardiovascular system, including lowering the elevated heart rate and blood pressure often found in cocaine users. "We have found that cocaine's effects on the cardiovascular system can be reversed by the use of a drug called dexmedetomidine, which is currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for anesthetic purposes in operating rooms or intensive care units," said Dr. Wanpen Vongpatanasin, associate professor of internal medicine and senior author of a study appearing in the Aug. 14 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Researchers used dexmedetomidine to test whether cocaine's effect on the cardiovascular system could be muted. They found that the drug was effective in reversing the actions of cocaine on heart rate, blood pressure and vascular resistance in the skin by interfering with the ability of cocaine to increase nerve activity. "Typically, patients with cocaine overdoses in the emergency room are treated with nitroglycerin, sedatives such as Valium, and some blood-pressure medications such as calcium channel blockers and some beta blockers," Dr. Vongpatanasin said. "However, the standard treatments don't alleviate all of the adverse effects of cocaine on the heart, blood pressure and central nervous system."
The study examined results from 22 healthy adults who reported to have never used cocaine. The investigators administered a small, medically approved dose of cocaine nose drops to the study participants, which doubled their sympathetic nerve activity, part of the body's "automatic" response system that becomes more active during times of stress. Participants experienced increases in several cardiovascular parameters including heart rate, blood pressure and resistance to blood flow in the skin. Microelectrodes, similar to acupuncture needles, were used to record sympathetic nerve activity following doses of intranasal cocaine. Research subjects who were treated with dexmedetomidine had a decrease in sympathetic nerve activity as well as in all three cardiovascular parameters, which returned to baseline levels measured before administration of cocaine. Dexmedetomidine proved to be more effective than intravenous saline, which was used as a placebo in another group of study participants. Cocaine abuse in the U.S. is widespread, with nearly 35 million Americans reporting having ever tried cocaine and an estimated 7.3 million users, including 15 percent of young adults ages 18 to 25, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Life-threatening emergencies related to cocaine use include sudden cardiac death, high blood pressure, stroke and acute myocardial infarctions. "We also found that dexmedetomidine was equally effective in counteracting effects of cocaine in subjects with a rare genetic mutation thought to disrupt the effects of dexmedetomidine," said Dr. Ronald Victor, professor of internal medicine and co-author of the study. "Because this particular mutation is more common in African-Americans than in Caucasians, our study results are applicable to a more diverse, multiethnic population." Further research is needed, study authors said, to determine whether the treatment would be effective for acute cocaine overdose in the emergency room and to gauge whether it would be effective in reversing cocaine-induced constriction of the coronary vessels to the same degree it does in skin vessels. UT Southwestern Medical Center | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Related Cocaine Current Events and Cocaine News Articles Hope for treating relapse to methamphetamine abuse A new study at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory suggests that vigabatrin (a.k.a. gamma vinyl-GABA, or GVG) blocks drug-seeking behavior in animals previously trained to associate methamphetamine with a particular environment. Stem Cells from Monkey Teeth Can Stimulate Growth and Generation of Brain Cells Researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, have discovered dental pulp stem cells can stimulate growth and generation of several types of neural cells. Findings from this study, available in the October issue of the journal Stem Cells, suggest dental pulp stem cells show promise for use in cell therapy and regenerative medicine, particularly therapies associated with the central nervous system. Extended-treatment with combination medication for opioid-addicted youths shows benefit Adolescents addicted to opioids who received continuing treatment with the combination medication buprenorphine-naloxone had lower rates of testing positive or reporting use of opioids compared to youths who went through a short-term detoxification program using the same medication, according to a study in the November 5 issue of JAMA. Singing to females makes male birds' brains happy The melodious singing of birds has been long appreciated by humans, and has often been thought to reflect a particularly positive emotional state of the singer. Adolescent insomnia linked to depression and substance abuse during adolescence and young adulthood A study in the Oct. 1 issue of the journal Sleep shows that adolescent insomnia symptoms are associated with depression, suicide ideation and attempts, and the use of alcohol, cannabis and other drugs such as cocaine. Caffeine experts at Johns Hopkins call for warning labels for energy drinks Johns Hopkins scientists who have spent decades researching the effects of caffeine report that a slew of caffeinated energy drinks now on the market should carry prominent labels that note caffeine doses and warn of potential health risks for consumers. College freshmen: pain killers and stimulants less risky than cocaine; more risky than marijuana First year college students believe that occasional nonmedical use of prescription pain killers and stimulants is less risky than cocaine, but more risky than marijuana or consuming five or more alcoholic beverages every weekend. New evidence on addiction to medicines Diazepam has effect on nerve cells in the brain reward system Addictions to medicines and drugs are thought to develop over a relatively long period of time. The process involves both structural and functional changes in brain nerve cells that are still poorly understood. Cocaine: How addiction develops Permanent drug seeking and relapse after renewed drug administration are typical behavioral patterns of addiction. Molecular changes at the connection points in the brain's reward center are directly responsible for this. Addiction treatment proves successful in animal weight loss study Vigabatrin, a medication proposed as a potential treatment for drug addiction by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, also leads to rapid weight loss and reduced food intake according to a new animal study from the same research group. More Cocaine Current Events and Cocaine News Articles |
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