Grafting a Safeguard against Cocaine Abuse
Author(s): MingXu and Xiaoyang Wu
Abstract
Drug addiction is a brain disease characterized by compulsive drug-seeking and taking and a high likelihood of relapse when exposed to drugs or drugassociated cues, even long after abstention [1]. Relapse is the major challenge for the treatment of drug addiction in humans. Cocaine is a widely abused drug that causes significant morbidity and mortality. There are currently no FDA-approved medications for reducing cocaine use or treating relapse in cocaine addicts. Moreover, there are no interventions for the acute emergencies that result from cocaine overdose. A novel skin stem cell-based gene therapy has recently been described to be effective in reducing core features of cocaine abuse in laboratory mice [2], offering hope of producing the first medication for treating cocaine abuse, and adding a new tool for treating drug abuse and co-abuse.
