Imagen demo
Press Room

New

News

CEU researchers identify a new biomarker that could improve the treatment of cocaine dependence

08/04/2021
Imagen de la noticia

Researchers from the NEUROFAN group, dedicated to the neuropharmacology of addictions and degenerative disorders, have successfully  identified a new biomarker of cocaine abuse disorder and, more specifically, of withdrawal from this drug. "Elevated levels of midkine have been detected in patients with early withdrawal from cocaine that then decrease as the period without consuming is prolonged", says Professor Gonzalo Herradón. Therefore, the authors insist,: “it is possible to propose the pharmacological potential of the effects of midkine as a future therapeutic strategy for the treatment of cocaine abuse disorder and the prevention of relapses in its use, which could also be extended to other drugs of abuse”.

The research has been published in the journal Addictions and constitutes the transition from animal models to patients in the group's previous discoveries with midkine, a protein that regulates the effects of different drugs of abuse such as cocaine or alcohol. In 2014, the group led by Professor Gonzalo Herradón published the first evidence showing that mice which had not been administered midkine had greater difficulties in eradicating the reinforcing effects of cocaine in animal models related to drug-seeking behaviour. These results, along with other subsequent evidence, suggest that midkine opposes the addictive and neurotoxic effects of cocaine, so that its production could increase in the brain as part of a natural mechanism of protection against the harmful effects of the drug. This hypothesis has been supported by the recent work carried out in collaboration with the University Hospital of Málaga and directed by Professor Luis Fernando Alguacil, a researcher for the NEUROFAN group and Director of the Institute for Addiction Studies IEA-CEU. In this study, researchers have measured plasma levels of midkine in 75 patients with cocaine use withdrawal disorder in  26  tests. "We have found that patients in early withdrawal show a 60% increase in their plasma concentration of midkine  in tests, a difference that tends to disappear when withdrawal periods are longer", details Professor Alguacil.

These findings, the result of several research projects funded during the last decade by the State Program I+D+i and the National Plan on Drugs, suggest that, in humans, as in animal models, high levels of midkine could play a very important role in limiting the biological effects of psychostimulants such as cocaine, and they open the possibility that either midkine itself or other drugs with analogous biological effects could be useful to limit the neurotoxicity associated with cocaine use and facilitate the cessation process. On this basis, the research groups NEUROFANPROLIGAR 7 and GESTOBES of CEU San Pablo University have collaborated to develop new compounds that regulate the activity of midkine, something which could lead to the discovery of new drugs  to combat drug addiction.

Palabras clave NEUROFAN Addictions Cocaine Dependence Midkina Investigation