Vaccines against morphine/heroin and its use as effective medication for preventing relapse to opiate addictive behaviors.
Current pharmacotherapies for treating morphine/heroin dependence are designed to substitute or block addiction by targeting the drug itself rather than the brain. The heroin addict is still being exposed to addictive opiates, and consequently may develop tolerance to and experience withdrawal and drug's toxic effects from the treatment with high incidence of relapse to addictive drug consumption. As for other drugs of abuse, an alternative approach for morphine/heroin addiction is an antibody-based antagonism of heroin's brain entry. This review summarizes the literature examining important aspects of neurobiological and pharmacological processes involved in opiate dependence. Thereafter, classical pharmacological interventions for opiate dependence treatment and its major clinical limitations are reviewed. Finally, relevant preclinical studies are examined for comparisons in the design, use, immunogenic profile and efficacy of several models of morphine/heroin vaccine as immunologic interventions on the pharmacokinetics and behavioral of morphine/heroin in the rat as animal model.
Anton
Benito
B
Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology and Addictive Neurochemistry, National Institute of Psychiatry Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, Mexico City, Mexico. antonpb@imp.edu.mx
Salazar
Alberto
A
Flores
Anabel
A
Matus
Maura
M
Marin
Rodrigo
R
Hernandez
Jorge-Alberto
JA
Leff
Philippe
P
D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies / Q000276:immunology*; D003932:Heroin / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000276:immunology; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D009020:Morphine / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000276:immunology; D009021:Morphine Dependence / Q000628:therapy*; D051381:Rats; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D018074:Vaccines, Conjugate / Q000276:immunology
D000906:Antibodies; D018074:Vaccines, Conjugate; D003932:Heroin; D009020:Morphine