Nicholas Goeders, professor and head of the Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Neuroscience at the LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, is designing a drug he hopes to release on the market to cure cocaine addiction and help prevent relapses.
Goeders said he has studied drug addiction for the past 25 to 30 years and focuses primarily on cocaine.
Goeders said he looks at the physiological effect the drug has on the brain and the effect on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, or the stress system.
To study the drug, rats are placed in an operant chamber for two hours a day, said Glenn Guerin, lab manager at the LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport.
Guerin said the chamber box is specially designed for the animal to have enough room to move around.
Goeders said the box has two levers. One allows the rat to self-administer food and the other cocaine.
“The rats learn very quickly to administer the drug,” Goeders said.
Goeders said when the rats press the drug lever, a tone and light go off, and when the tone and light go off without dispensing cocaine, the rats’ stress systems are activated.
This simulates a “cue” similar to what humans experience, Goeders said.
“This is the same as humans when they see paraphernalia related to cocaine,” Goeders said.
People, street corners, places and anything addicts associate with cocaine can serve as a cue, Guerin said.
Stress can also be a cue for use by addicts, Guerin said.
“When people get really stressed out, the stress can cause a relapse,” Guerin said.
Goeders compared this effect to that of nicotine addiction, stating people who have quit smoking tend to crave the nicotine when they get stressed out.
When the rats receive the treatment drug, it blocks the effect of the cue and reduces the rats’ desire to administer cocaine, Goeders said.
Goeders said he and his team conducted a small pilot study about three years ago to see if the drug would have the same effect on humans as it did in animals.
Goeders said the trial participants were required to test positive for cocaine to be eligible for the study.
Participants came in twice a week to have vital signs checked, provide a urine sample for drug screening, receive the treatment drug and report any negative side effects, Goeders said.
The study showed a decrease in cocaine levels present in the screening samples, as well, and decreased cravings for cocaine, Goeders said.
Goeders said participants stated problems of agitation, upset stomach and other non-serious effects, but those receiving the placebo also complained of those symptoms.
Guerin said the next trial will take place in a year or two, and all the preparation and research is funded by grants.
Goeders said the next step in making the drug available to the public will be to conduct larger clinical trials and fulfill the Food and Drug Administration requirements, which will take years.
 
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Contact Celeste Ansley at [email protected]