GALVESTON, Texas - Men and women addicted to alcohol or drugs who want to recover but struggle with relapses may have help on the way following this month's $3.4 million boost to support recovery-focused studies at the Center for Addiction Research at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.
Funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse will advance ongoing research into brain serotonin systems and new therapies that may improve the long-term prospects of patient recovery.
The new research focuses on how brain serotonin systems contribute to the development of addiction and relapse. The results will provide the foundation for "personalized" therapies in addictive disorders.
There may also be benefits for compulsive overeaters.
"We believe that neuronal recovery in serotonin systems will lead to behavioral recovery in addiction, and jump start a new generation of discovery for anti-addiction and potentially, anti-obesity therapeutics," said Kathryn A. Cunningham who directs the center and is the principal investigator.
"Drug addiction shares many of the behavioral features and similar brain and biological consequences with compulsive overeating and obesity, although the initial causes may differ," Cunningham said.
Obesity and addiction are two of the most significant public health problems facing the United States, she said.
"Researchers will first analyze genes and markers of serotonin function, along with several psychological traits and individual responses to medical and behavioral therapy in men and women suffering from addiction," she said. Another group of scientists will test newly designed medications to enhance abstinence through clinical and laboratory methods.
The clinical research is led by F. Gerard Moeller, a professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, while Scott R. Gilbertson, director of the UTMB program in chemical biology, is guiding medication development. Cunningham and Cheryl S. Watson, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, will establish the preclinical effectiveness of the medications before they are used in clinical research.
"With this compilation of knowledge, the group plans to utilize a patient's unique serotonin function, genetics and psychological profile to design an optimal treatment strategy for the individual," Cunningham said.
About 8.5 percent of the men and women who needed treatment for alcohol or drug abuse received care in 2005 largely due to the inaccessibility and cost of treatment programs.
"Substance abuse and addiction are medical conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes," Cunningham said. "And, like these chronic diseases, they can be effectively treated."
Treating addiction reduces the odds that addicts will develop more than 70 other medical conditions, ultimately saving lives and lowering the cost of long-term health care, she said.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse, a component of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, supports 85 percent of the world's research on the health aspects of drug abuse and addiction.