Research Highlights | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

People With SUDs Have Increased Risk for COVID-19 and Worse Outcomes

January 13, 2021 | People with a substance use disorder (SUD) at any time in their lives are 1.5 times more likely to contract COVID-19 than those without an SUD, and those with a...

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ADAPT-2 Trial Results Deliver a Breakthrough in Long Search for Methamphetamine Use Disorder Medication

January 13, 2021 | A combination of bupropion and naltrexone successfully reduced methamphetamine use.

Science Highlight

Substance Use Status Important When Developing HIV Therapies

December 23, 2020 | Animal studies suggest that subjects with HIV who suffer from opioid use disorders may have higher viral reservoirs in the central nervous system than non-opioid users.

NIDA Notes

Decision-Making in Ambiguous Situations Influences OUD Patients’ Relapse Risk

December 16, 2020 | Patients in treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) who were more comfortable making decisions when they did not know the probability of outcome had a higher risk of using opioids...

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Unraveling neuroHIV in the Presence of Substance Use Disorders

December 15, 2020 | These reviews address how each of these addictive substances and HIV individually or collectively affect the immune system and subsequent clinical and behavioral outcomes

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As 2020 Closes, Many Questions Remain about Youth Substance Use Trends

December 15, 2020 | NIDA-funded research aims to help understand teen drug use and its effects

NIDA Notes

How the Brain Makes Pain Unpleasant

December 7, 2020 | A specific collection of neurons in the basolateral amygdala, a brain region crucial for affect, was active when mice experienced pain. Deactivating this collection of neurons resulted in a loss...

Science Highlight

Elite Controllers May Hold Key to an HIV Cure

December 2, 2020 | "Science" Magazine Breakthrough of the Year Runner Up for 2020

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On World AIDS Day, Celebrating Scientific Advances and Confronting the Complexities of HIV and Substance Use

November 30, 2020 | We applaud the substantial strides made, while recognizing the challenges that need to be addressed.

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HIV and Methamphetamine Use: Double Jeopardy for Transmission of the Novel Coronavirus.

November 23, 2020 | The authors suggest that co-occurring methamphetamine use and HIV present a double jeopardy for COVID.

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Rising Stimulant Deaths Show that We Face More than Just an Opioid Crisis

November 12, 2020 | There is an alarming increase in deaths involving the stimulant drugs methamphetamine and cocaine.

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New Evidence on Substance Use Disorders and COVID-19 Susceptibility

October 5, 2020 | People with SUDs may be particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 and its most adverse health outcomes

NIDA Notes

Narrative of Discovery: The Quest for a Medication to Treat Methamphetamine Addiction, Part 5

September 21, 2020 | In the summer of 2019, Dr. Linda Dwoskin and her research team felt they were in a promising place in their decades-long search for a treatment for the 700,000 Americans...

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Gaps in Substance Use Treatment Services for HIV Patients Around the Globe

September 15, 2020 | Substance use is common among people living with HIV and is associated with less successful HIV treatment outcomes. Integrating substance use services into HIV care is a promising strategy to...

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Addressing the Unique Challenges of COVID-19 for People in Recovery

September 14, 2020 | Significant increases in many kinds of drug use have been recorded since March

NIDA Notes

Cocaine Triggers Endocannabinoid Release Through a Novel Mechanism

September 11, 2020 | Cocaine can trigger release of the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) in the ventral tegmental area of the midbrain in mice, and this may play a role in cocaine use disorder.

NIDA Notes

Prenatal Cannabis Exposure Alters Brain Reward Circuitry in Male Rats

August 6, 2020 | Prenatal cannabis exposure (PCE) increased sensitivity to THC in male rats, but not female rats, during pre-adolescence. PCE increased dopamine release in response to THC and altered the properties of...

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Research at the Intersection of HIV with Substance Use Disorders amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

July 28, 2020 | We are prioritizing research into how the coexisting crises of COVID-19, HIV, and substance use, including the opioid crisis, combine to create a disastrous storm, taking lives and overtaxing America’s...

NIDA Notes

Two Different Brain Regions Are Linked With Nicotine Addiction Severity and Nicotine Withdrawal

July 21, 2020 | Activity in the striatum of people who smoke changed less in response to positive feedback/reward than in nonsmokers; this effect was more pronounced with greater addiction severity. Activity of the...

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Treating Substance Use Disorders Can Reduce HIV Burden in U.S. Cities

July 15, 2020 | Concerted efforts and substantial investments in HIV prevention and care in the United States have resulted in considerable reduction in new diagnoses and death since the mid-1990s. To identify best...

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NIDA Seeks Public Input for Our 2021-2025 Strategic Plan

July 14, 2020 | NIDA has begun drafting its strategic plan for 2021-2025, and to best inform that process, we are seeking input from the public and the scientific community.

NIDA Notes

Parents’ Marijuana Use May Increase Children’s Risk of Marijuana Use and Favorable Views of Marijuana

June 30, 2020 | This study found that children’s risk of marijuana and alcohol use and attitudes toward marijuana were influenced by their parents’ marijuana use pattern over time.

Science Highlight

Clues to Regulating HIV-1 Viral Gene Expression

June 23, 2020 | People with substance use disorders (SUD) can be at high risk for contracting this virus, either through injection drug use, or risky behaviors prompted by impaired judgment.

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NIDA Researchers Adapt Their Projects to Study COVID-19

June 17, 2020 | The U.S. is now facing two intersecting health crises, the ongoing opioid overdose epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic. Regrettably, each has the potential to exacerbate the effects of the other.

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A Message from the Director on Racially Motivated Violence

June 4, 2020 | We know that science itself is at its best when it is most inclusive, and humans are best when we embrace diversity. Conversations about systemic racial inequalities can be uncomfortable...

NIDA Notes

Researchers Identify Rare Gene Variants Associated With Smoking and Alcohol Use

May 29, 2020 | International research teams analyzed several hundred thousand samples from 17 whole-exome sequencing studies to identify rare gene variants associated with smoking and alcohol use. They identified rare variants in 117...

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Shape shifters: The dynamic role of GCPRs in drug discovery

May 26, 2020 | A new computational analysis suggests certain dopamine receptors in the brain and body are more complex and dynamic than previously thought, existing in diverse inactive states that only allow the...

NIDA Notes

Expression of a Gene in the Brain Links Nicotine Addiction to Diabetes

May 12, 2020 | Rats with a disrupted transcription factor 7-like 2 (Tcf7l2) gene in the medial habenula showed markedly greater nicotine intake than control rats. Reduced Tcf7l2 expression in the medial habenula reduced...

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Addressing the Stigma that Surrounds Addiction

April 22, 2020 | Healthcare already has effective tools including medications for opioid and alcohol use disorder, but they are not being utilized widely enough. One important reason is the stigma that surrounds people...

Science Highlight

Learning how to disrupt cocaine’s effects on the brain

April 20, 2020 | Just published research by scientists at NIDA’s Intramural Research Program reveals that the drug cocaine causes neurons to synthesize endocannabinoids that are then enclosed within membrane-bound packages, known as extracellular...