title: Fifty Years in the Development of a Glutaminergic-Dopaminergic Optimization Complex (KB220) to Balance Brain Reward Circuitry in Reward Deficiency Syndrome: A Pictorial.
abstract: Dopamine along with other chemical messengers like serotonin, cannabinoids, endorphins and glutamine, play significant roles in brain reward processing. There is a devastating opiate/opioid epidemicin the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at least 127 people, young and old, are dying every day due to narcotic overdose and alarmingly heroin overdose is on the rise. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved some Medication-Assisted Treatments (MATs) for alcoholism, opiate and nicotine dependence, but nothing for psychostimulant and cannabis abuse. While these pharmaceuticals are essential for the short-term induction of "psychological extinction," in the long-term caution is necessary because their use favors blocking dopaminergic function indispensable for achieving normal satisfaction in life. The two institutions devoted to alcoholism and drug dependence (NIAAA & NIDA) realize that MATs are not optimal and continue to seek better treatment options. We review, herein, the history of the development of a glutaminergic-dopaminergic optimization complex called KB220 to provide for the possible eventual balancing of the brain reward system and the induction of "dopamine homeostasis." This complex may provide substantial clinical benefit to the victims of Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS) and assist in recovery from iatrogenically induced addiction to unwanted opiates/opioids and other addictive behaviors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida College of Medicine, USA; Division of Addiction Services, Dominion Diagnostics, USA; Igene, LLC, Austin, USA; Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Keck School of Medicine of USC, USA; Division of Neuroscience Research and Addiction Therapy, Shores Treatment and Recovery Center, USA; Human Integrated Services Unit, University of Vermont Centre for Clinical and Translational Science, USA; Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Psychology, Hungary; Division of Clinical Neurology, PATH Foundation NY, USA; Division of Nutrigenomics, LaVita RDS, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Blum
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida College of Medicine, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Febo
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Wright State University BoonShoft School of Medicine, USA.
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Badgaiyan
keywords: Dopamine; Enkephalin; Glutamine; KB220Z; Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT); Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS)