A cure for addiction: New compound claims to erase memories of drug use in addicts

A radical experimental drug promises to erase memories of addiction

A cure for addiction may have finally been found. Researches unveiled a radical experiment that would eradicate memories of being addicted to drugs. Is a drug-free life for recovering addicts close at hand?

MUNTINLUPA CITY, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - A drug-free life is may now be possible with the discovery of a new drug that will erase all the memories of addiction in the human body.

The drug, blebbistatin, when injected in the body will successfully disrupt long-term storage of drug-related memories. The said "cure" for drug addiction reveals that tests results of this drug inserted in animal models blocked relapse for at least a month on subjects with methamphetamine addiction.

The Scripps Research institute revealed that their discovery brings them close to a new therapy that can be used to help drug addicts.

"We now have a viable target and by blocking that target, we can disrupt, and potentially erase, drug memories, leaving other memories intact, according to the TSRI Associate Professor Courtney Miller. "The hope is that, when combined with traditional rehabilitation and abstinence therapies, we can reduce or eliminate relapse for meth users after a single treatment by taking away the power of an individual's triggers."

The new study builds on previous work in Miller's lab and demonstrates the effectiveness of a single injection of blebbistatin in preventing relapse in animal subjects. The discovery revealed that drug related memories can be erased as the blebbistatin targets actin, the protein that provides the structural scaffold that supports memories in the brain.

However the therapeutical potential of this drug is still limited. Actin is a very important protein inside the body. Taking a pill that inhibits the actin in the body could likely be fatal.

A new study is being conducted by Miller and her colleagues to discover a safer way to selectively target actin in the brain without compromising the health and welfare of the subject through nonmuscle myosin II, a molecular motor that supports memory formation. These drugs however should be delivered directly to the brain.

Further experimentation is still being conducted with the drug to determine potential therapeutically properties that will help prevent relapses and provide a more effective therapy and solution for drug addiction.

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