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Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have performed successful tests of an experimental methamphetamine vaccine on rats. Vaccinated animals that received the drug were largely protected from typical signs of meth intoxication. If the vaccine proves effective in humans too, it could become the first specific treatment for meth addiction, which is estimated to affect 25 million people worldwide.

"This is an early-stage study, but its results are comparable to those for other drug vaccines that have then gone to clinical trials," said Michael A. Taffe, an associate professor in TSRI’s addiction science group, known as the Committee on the Neurobiology of Addictive Disorders. Taffe is the senior author of the study, which is currently in press with the journal Biological Psychiatry.

A Common and Dangerous Drug of Abuse

Over the past two decades, methamphetamine has become one of the most common drugs of abuse around the world. In the United States alone there are said to be more than 400,000 current users, and in some states, including California, meth accounts for more primary drug abuse treatment admissions than any other drug. Meth has characteristics that make it more addictive than other common drugs of abuse, and partly for this reason, there are no approved treatments for meth addiction.

Full story of meth vaccine at Science Daily

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As United States law enforcement cracks down on methamphetamine producers, Mexican drug cartels are filling the void, according to the Associated Press. Cheap, very potent Mexican meth is appearing in American cities across the country. The drug is made in “superlabs” that run like factories, the AP reports.

Mexican drug trafficking organizations have become the primary manufacturers and distributors of methamphetamine to cities throughout the United States, including in Hawaii, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

“These are sophisticated, high-tech operations in Mexico that are operating with extreme precision,” Jim Shroba, a DEA agent in St. Louis, told the AP. “They’re moving it out the door as fast as they can manufacture it.” Mexican labs employ chemists, who develop formulas used to produce tons of the drug in sophisticated factories. The drug often is smuggled into the U.S. hidden inside packages of other drugs, or taped underneath tractor-trailers.

Full story of US and drug cartels at DrugFree.org

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By Rick Nauert, PhD

Researchers report promising advances in the lab toward the development of a vaccine to treat methamphetamine addiction.

Although the abuse of “speed” or methamphetamines is under the radar screen for many, the costs associated with the addiction are astronomical exceeding $23 billion annually. Expenditures include medical and law enforcement outlays as well as lost productivity.

In the paper, Kim Janda, Ph.D., and colleagues note that “meth” or “crystal meth” can cause a variety of problems including cardiovascular damage and death. Meth is highly addictive, and users in conventional behavioral treatment programs often relapse.

Full story at PsychCentral

By ScienceDaily

A scale used to assess the behavior of newborns exposed to methamphetamine before birth might be able to identify those children who will develop problems later on, according to a study presented on May 1, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Denver.

A large body of research shows that prenatal exposure to cocaine can lead to cognitive and behavioral problems in children. Recently, methamphetamine has become the drug of choice for many pregnant drug users, according to study co-author Barry M. Lester, PhD. Despite its widespread use, little is known about the potential consequences of prenatal meth exposure on the development of children.

Full story at ScienceDaily

By ScienceDaily

The study, described in the journal PLoS ONE, tracks changes in the expression of genes and proteins in fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) exposed to meth.

Unlike most studies of meth, which focus on the brain, the new analysis looked at molecular changes throughout the body, said University of Illinois entomology professor Barry Pittendrigh, who led the research.

“One of the great things about working with fruit flies is that because they’re small, we can work with the whole organism and then look at the great diversity of tissues that are being impacted,” Pittendrigh said. “This is important because we know that methamphetamine influences cellular processes associated with aging, it affects spermatogenesis, and it impacts the heart. One could almost call meth a perfect storm toxin because it does so much damage to so many different tissues in the body.”

Read the rest of the article here

Source ScienceDaily