NIDAMED News

Announcement.

Lofexidine, the first medication for use in reducing symptoms associated with opioid withdrawal in adults, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

A NIDA-funded study suggests that pregnant women who smoke both marijuana and cigarettes have a higher likelihood of smaller babies and increased maternal stress and aggression.

NIH-funded scientists find new molecular target for developing safer pain medications.A new discovery shows that opioids used to treat pain, such as morphine and oxycodone, produce their effects by binding to receptors inside neurons, contrary to conventional wisdom that they acted only on the same surface receptors as endogenous opioids, which are produced naturally in the brain.

Announcement.

Advances in the understanding of brain development, as well as the role that genes and environment play in addiction, are the focus of a review article published today in The American Journal of Psychiatry.

Preclinical research lays the groundwork for developing the first drug to promote recovery from ischemic stroke, a leading cause of adult disability.

Science Spotlight.

Looking at annual averages, approximately 6.6% (or 16 million) of U.S. adults used prescription stimulants in the preceding year; 4.5% (or 11 million) used prescription stimulants appropriately (without misuse); 2.1% (or 5 million) misused prescription stimulants at least once; and 0.2% (or 0.4 million) had prescription stimulant use disorders.

One of the pillars of the current federal initiatives to end the opioid crisis is the development of new medications to treat opioid addiction. The FDA Patient-Focused Drug Development Initiative (PFDD), established in 2012, seeks to solicit patient perspectives on which symptoms are most important to target.

NIH scientists discover macromolecular complexes that could enable medication development.

Scientists at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Intramural Research Program (IRP) have uncovered evidence that shows a more complex and elaborate role for the body’s hard-working G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) than previously thought, suggesting a conceptual advance in the fields of biochemistry and pharmacology.

A NIDA-funded study explored how opioids such as morphine act within pain circuits in the brain and spinal cord, while attaching to receptors on the surface of nerve cells (neurons).

Science Spotlight.

Scientists have investigated how the stomach-derived hormone ghrelin affects alcohol-seeking behaviors, discovering for the first time in humans that administration of ghrelin intravenously significantly increased alcohol intake in heavy drinking participants.

NIH's awards support groundbreaking approaches to HIV prevention and treatment.

NIDA’s annual Avant-Garde Award competition, now in its 11th year, is intended to stimulate high-impact research that may lead to groundbreaking opportunities for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS in drug users.

NIDA-funded scientists conducted the first study showing that the signaling transmitter glutamate increases in the brain after stimulant use in humans, which has a greater effect in females.

A compound once studied as an arthritis therapy has been given new life as a possible non-opioid pain reliever by NIDA-funded scientists.

Complex brain actions reflect multiple networks of activity in the brain, according to a paper authored by researchers from the NIDA Intramural Research Program, in collaboration with scientists from Italy and Sweden.

A new animal study from NIDA's Intramural Research Program (IRP) shines light on the underlying mechanisms in the brain's prefrontal cortex and its role in learning.

Science Spotlight.

Some 30 to 60 percent of patients in methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) for opioid use disorders use cocaine. Compared to other MMT patients, those who use cocaine have higher rates of relapse and mortality. Studies with animals have suggested that the hormone oxytocin could be doubly helpful to these patients, by reducing the addictive effects of both opioids and cocaine. Now, researchers supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse have developed a protocol for adjunctive oxytocin treatment, and a pilot study has indicated that it is workable and safe for MMT patients.

NIDA study compares buprenorphine/naloxone combination to extended release naltrexone.

Strong associations exist between substance use disorder diagnoses and 19 major medical illnesses among patients in a large, integrated health care system. The study indicates that these associations may persist even in health care systems that provide specialized treatment for substance use disorders and have capacity to integrate behavioral and medical care.

As Francis Collins and I wrote in May, NIH and NIDA are committed to an “all scientific hands on deck” effort to end the opioid crisis in America by halving the time it takes to develop new medications to treat pain and addiction and reverse overdoses.