title: Can you vaccinate against substance abuse?
abstract: Vaccines are being developed against substance abuse and most progress has been made with anti-cocaine, nicotine and opiate vaccines, but new ones are being developed for methamphetamine and may be in humans within 18 - 24 months. These haptenated vaccines share a common problem in that only about one-third of those vaccinated get a sufficiently robust antibody titer to enable them to effectively block drug use. This problem is being addressed with better carrier proteins and new adjuvants beyond alum. This review provides details about these developing vaccines that act through pharmacokinetic rather than pharmacodynamics blockade. Due to this pharmacokinetic mechanism of keeping abused drugs in the bloodstream and not allowing them entry into the brain or other organs, these vaccines have very few side effects compared to other blockers used in addictions treatment.
authors.affiliation: Michael E DeBakey VA Medical Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Departments of Psychiatry, Neuroscience, Pharmacology & Immunology, 2002 Holcombe, VA Hospital Bldg 110, # 229 Houston, TX 77030, USA. Kosten@bcm.edu
authors.forename: Thomas R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Kosten
authors.forename: Coreen B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Domingo
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014611:Vaccination; D014612:Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage*
chemical_list: D014612:Vaccines