A research group at the Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama discovered a new substance that suppresses drug dependence in experiments using mice.The research results were published in the British academic journal "Scientific Report", but it seems that expectations are high that it may lead to the treatment of drug addiction, which has become a major social problem all over the world.
The research was led by Mr. Tadashi Tadashi (3rd year doctoral student) from the Pharmacotherapy Laboratory, who has been working with Professor Atsumi Nitta and Associate Professor Yoshiaki Miyamoto for 5 years.
According to the report, TEME168 was found as a molecule whose expression level was significantly increased in the brain after repeated administration of stimulants to mice.Drug addiction is caused by an increase in the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain, but TEME168 suppresses dopamine levels by binding to another molecule, osteopontin, and increases expression in the nucleus accumbens of the brain, causing stimulant addiction. I was holding it down.Injecting osteopontin into the brain of mice also showed results in suppressing addiction.
Drug dependence such as stimulants has a high recidivism rate of 60% in Japan, which has become a major social problem, but sufficient measures have not been taken.Although drug dependence is regarded as one of the mental illnesses and it is being sought to treat it and reintegrate into society, the mechanism of dysphoria formation is unknown and there is no therapeutic drug.The research group believes that this discovery will lead to the development of drug addiction therapies.
