BETHESDA, Md., Feb. 22 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers have found a substance similar to a drug used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease blocks the stimulating effects of cocaine.
Jonathan Katz of the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Bethesda, Md., said his findings show mice treated with a substance similar to the drug benztropine did not show any of the typical hyperactive behavior when later injected with cocaine. The effect wore off after a day.
Researchers have long searched for "a molecule that would block cocaine's effects on the transporter without inhibiting the transporter by itself," notes Eric Nestler, chairman of psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
Although the results are preliminary, Nestler said the breakthrough shows it may be possible to develop drugs that block cocaine's stimulating effects, and perhaps its power to addict.
The findings appear in Wednesday's Journal of Neuroscience.
