Researchers: Drug curbs addiction

UC Irvine researchers have discovered that a drug they say could treat cancer may also keep recovering cocaine addicts from relapsing into their habit, university officials said in a news release.

The drug, sodium butyrate, slows or blocks drug-seeking activity in mice who sought cocaine in earlier experiments, UCI neuroscientists found. Unlike typical drug-treatment programs that look to un-condition cues people associate with drug use, scientists took the novel approach of using sodium butyrate to address addictive behavior on a molecular level, school officials said.

The study, co-authored by neurobiology and behavior assistant professor Marcelo Wood, introduced cocaine to mice then took it away.

They gave some mice sodium butyrate and withheld it from others. When they re-introduced the cocaine, the mice exposed to the chemical showed markedly less interest in the narcotic, school officials said.

The study was published online in the journal Biological Psychiatry on Tuesday.

— Joseph Serna