Addiction Rehab: Modulating Cocaine Vaccine Potency Through Hapten Fluorination.
Modulating Cocaine Vaccine Potency Through Hapten Fluorination.
Filed under: Addiction Rehab
J Am Chem Soc. 2013 Feb 11;
Cai X, Tsuchikama K, Janda KD
Cocaine addiction is a long-lasting relapsing illness characterized by cycles of abuse, abstinence and reinstatement, and antibody-based therapies could be a powerful therapeutic approach. Herein, we explored the possibility of using halogenated cocaine haptens to enhance the immunological properties of anti-cocaine vaccines. Three fluorine-containing cocaine haptens (GNF, GNCF and GN5F) and one chlorine-containing cocaine hapten (GNCl) were designed and synthesized, based upon the chemical scaffold of the only hapten that has reached clinical trials, succinyl norcocaine (SNC). Hapten GNF was found to retain potent cocaine affinity, and also elicit antibodies in a higher concentration than the parent structure SNC. Our data suggests that strate-gic hapten fluorination could be useful for not only im-proving upon the current cocaine vaccine undergoing clinical trials, but it may also be a valuable new ap-proach, with application to any of the vaccines being developed for the treatment of drugs of abuse.
HubMed – addiction
Male rats that differ in novelty exploration demonstrate distinct patterns of sexual behavior.
Filed under: Addiction Rehab
Behav Neurosci. 2013 Feb; 127(1): 47-58
Cummings JA, Clinton SM, Perry AN, Akil H, Becker JB
High- versus low-novelty exploration predicts a variety of behavioral differences. For example, rats selectively bred for high-novelty exploration (bred-high responders, bHR) exhibit exaggerated aggression, impulsivity, and proclivity to addictive behaviors compared with low-novelty reactive rats (bred-low responders, bLRs), which are characterized by a high anxiety/depressive-like phenotype. Since bHR/bLR rats exhibit differences in dopaminergic circuitry and differential response to rewarding stimuli (i.e., psychostimulants, food), the present study examined whether they also differ in another key hedonic behavior-sex. Thus, adult bHR/bLR males were given five 30-min opportunities to engage in sexual activity with a receptive female. Sexual behavior and motivation were examined and compared between the groups. The bHR/bLR phenotype affected both sexual motivation and behavior, with bLR males demonstrating reduced motivation for sex compared with bHR males (i.e., fewer animals copulated, longer latency to engage in sex). The bHR males required more intromissions at a faster pace per ejaculation than did bLR males. Thus, neurobiological differences that affect motivation for drugs of abuse, aggression, and impulsivity in rats also affect sexual motivation and performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).
HubMed – addiction
Differences in response initiation and behavioral flexibility between adolescent and adult rats.
Filed under: Addiction Rehab
Behav Neurosci. 2013 Feb; 127(1): 23-32
Simon NW, Gregory TA, Wood J, Moghaddam B
Adolescence is a period of increased vulnerability to psychiatric illnesses such as addiction, mood disorders, and schizophrenia. Rats provide a useful animal model for investigating the differences in behavior and biology between adults and adolescents that stem from ongoing brain development. We developed the Cued Response Inhibition Task, or CRIT, to assess response inhibition and initiation processes by measuring the ability of rodents to withhold a response during an inhibitory cue and then to respond promptly after cue termination. We found no difference between adult and adolescent rats in the ability to appropriately inhibit a response during cue presentation. Adolescents, however, were unable to initiate a response as quickly as adults after cue termination. Further, we observed that this difference in responding was abolished after adolescent rats aged to adulthood with no additional training. In a separate experiment, adult and adolescent rats were trained in CRIT and then trained in another protocol in which the response inhibitory cue from CRIT was used as a Pavlovian cue predictive of reward. Adolescents demonstrated more reward-seeking behavior during the previously inhibitory Pavlovian cue than adults, indicative of greater behavioral flexibility. Taken together, these data suggest that, compared with adults, adolescent rats (a) are less able to initiate a response after response inhibition, (b) equally inhibit behavioral responses, and (c) are more adept at flexibly switching behavioral patterns. Furthermore, this study characterizes a task that is well suited for future pharmacological and electrophysiological investigations for assessing neuronal processing differences between adolescents and adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).
HubMed – addiction
Judge says no solitary confinement for mentally ill inmates – In the United States, prisons are a multi-billion dollar industry. Some say, however, that many are brimming with inmates that are imprisoned unjustly. A large number of the individuals behind bars are mentally ill, and in some cases they are the very ones held in solitary confinement. Many activists claim that these conditions are inhumane and a judge in Indiana agreed. Now the California Department of Corrections is moving more than 50 prisoners out of solitary confinement. Bonnie Kerness, director of Prison Watch Project, joins us with more on the judge’s ruling. RT America LIVE rt.com Subscribe to RT America! www.youtube.com Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com Follow us on Twitter twitter.com
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