Medications that Regulate Glutamate Transporters Can Reduce Cocaine Craving
Glia are brain cells that surround neurons and synapses, protecting and insulating them. Chronic cocaine use and withdrawal changes the way certain glial cells, called astrocytes, interact with neurons. In particular, chronic cocaine use and withdrawal can shrink astrocytes and cause them to pull away from neurons. Cocaine use and withdrawal also interfere with the way the neurotransmitter glutamate is cleared from synapses and transported into astrocytes.
New research shows that certain medications that regulate and increase the movement of glutamate from the synapse into glial cells can reduce cravings for cocaine.
In studies of rats chronically exposed to cocaine and then denied access to it, treatment with these glutamate-targeting medications reduces the rats’ cocaine-seeking behaviors. The medications include N-acetylcysteine (NAC), an antioxidant that can reduce habitual behaviors, including addictive behaviors; riluzole, a treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease; the antibiotic ceftriaxone; and propentofylline, which has been explored as a possible treatment for dementia and stroke.
