Cocaine pharmacology and current pharmacothetherapies for its abuse

Academic Article

Carrera, M. Rocio Alberro, Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Neurosciences, Scripps Research 2001 - 2005

Cocaine abuse continues to be prevalent and effective therapies for cocaine craving and addiction remain elusive. In the last decade immunopharmacotherapy has been proposed as a promising means to alleviate this illness. By using the organism's natural immune response, an anti-cocaine vaccine promotes the production of cocaine-specific antibodies that sequester the drug before their passage into the brain, where it exerts its reinforcing and thus addictive effects. A series of studies demonstrating the cocaine-blocking properties of various immunogenic conjugates will be reviewed in the context of the neuropsychopharmacological profile of the drug.

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