[Current pharmacotherapies and immunotherapy in cocaine addiction]

Presse Med. 2008 Apr;37(4 Pt 2):689-98. doi: 10.1016/j.lpm.2007.08.015. Epub 2007 Dec 21.
[Article in French]

Abstract

Cocaine is more and more used and abused in France. Cocaine dependence is quite serious and is associated with numerous adverse health consequences. No effective pharmacotherapy for cocaine dependence is yet available. Recent advances in neurobiology, brain imaging and some clinical trials suggest that certain medications that modulate GABAergic, dopaminergic, and glutamatergic systems, as well as immunotherapy, show promise in the treatment of cocaine addiction. Recent controlled clinical studies have tested some of these drugs, which act on the various neurobiological circuits modified by cocaine exposure and clinically improve patients' symptoms. Pharmacological agents such as modafinil, GABAergic agents (baclofen, topiramate, tiagabin, and vigabatrin), disulfiram, aripiprazole, N-acetylcysteine and cocaine vaccine seem very promising in the treatment of cocaine dependence. However, this must be confirmed in larger patient populations.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Benzhydryl Compounds / pharmacology
  • Benzhydryl Compounds / therapeutic use
  • Central Nervous System Stimulants / pharmacology
  • Central Nervous System Stimulants / therapeutic use
  • Cocaine / immunology
  • Cocaine-Related Disorders / drug therapy*
  • Dopamine Antagonists / pharmacology
  • Dopamine Antagonists / therapeutic use
  • Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors / immunology
  • GABA Agonists / pharmacology
  • GABA Agonists / therapeutic use
  • Humans
  • Immunotherapy / methods*
  • Modafinil

Substances

  • Benzhydryl Compounds
  • Central Nervous System Stimulants
  • Dopamine Antagonists
  • Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors
  • GABA Agonists
  • Cocaine
  • Modafinil