Abbey Strauss, M.D.

So wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could control cocaine the way we control polio or smallpox. The recent discussions about a vaccine for cocaine need some close examination. Traditionally a vaccine  is something that is the product of modified microorganism that would cause the body to develop antibodies against a particular bacteria or virus, and then when the bacteria or virus came into the person’s body, they could fight it off. We  often talk about it in the terms that someone was immunized against the virus. It’s a little different when it comes to items like cocaine. We’re not trying to immunize someone against the effects of the disease, but rather to immunize them against the effects of a molecule. The cocaine molecule is so tiny that the body cannot fight it by making antibodies. So the body has to be tricked. Researchers take cocaine and attach it to the inactivated cholera protein. Don’t worry, it’s impossible to get cholera from this combination. The body however makes antibodies to the combined cholera and the cocaine unit. The spin off is that this enables to body to make antibodies to the cocaine. What this meant is that if a person then takes cocaine after they have these cocaine antibodies in their system, the antibodies stop the cocaine from going into the brain. This has the effect of blocking the  rush that cocaine addicts like. The cocaine, from a technical point of view, becomes stuck, or bound up with, to one use the full technical term, to fairly large cocaine antibodies. These antibodies are too big to through what is known as the blood brain barrier. So in effect the antibodies sponge up the cocaine and keep it outside of the brain. The hope is that with enough time the addicts get used to not getting the rush and it will deter continued cocaine use because there will be no response from the drug.  But it’s very important point to note that as the cocaine use stops, there has to also be a lot of rehabilitation, and psychological work to go along with it as well.

This vaccine may lead to vaccines for nicotine users as well.

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