So! The study presented by Jorg Morland from Norway discusses how heroin works (mechanisms and pathways to the brain) and how addiction can be treated.
Morland and his group of researchers theorizes that heroin is not introduced to the brain as such, yet morphine. According to them, heroin goes through a series of transformations before reaching the brain, one being 6-MAM, a metabolite. This metabolite induces the signaling of dopamine, a crucial molecule in the reward circuit for pleasure. The 6-MAM then converts to morphine about an hour of heroin injection to the body, and then dominates for the proceeding hours. Six to twelve hours after injection, morphine produces a metabolite called morphin-6-glucuronide that is responsible for the heroin effects one may observe.
Treatment that Morland's group are looking into, deals with blocking these substances from entering the brain with the 6-MAM antibody. When the antibody binds to 6-MAM, it will be too large to enter the brain, thus causing a stop to the effects of heroin.
Pretty dang on awesome!
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130926102626.htm
Hahahah, I like how u began this.
ReplyDeleteOk so I had always thought that after injecting the substance they feel the "high" pretty much right away, but who would have thought it would be after 6-12 hours !
It is pretty much instantaneous. I was saying around 6 to 12 hours after injection is when that metabolite is formed. The article kind of goes into detail about the time frame in case want to gain a better understanding.
Delete6-acetylmorphine is only one metabolite of heroin and morphine. Blocking 6-AM does not stop the metabolism of morphine. Other metabolites like 6-morphine-glucuroinide are still able to reach the receptors in the brain, continuing the effects of morphine. So, how does it stop the effects if it's only blocking one metabolite?
ReplyDeleteFrom what I can tell, it is a chain reaction where the transformation of heroin into 6-MAM is the beginning of the process. This purpose of this research is to stop addiction, thus, stopping the "pleasure feeling" one receives after a hit of heroin is the first step. If they are able to stop the signaling of dopamine, they can effectively stop the person from associating euphoria to taking heroin. Also, it is not until 6 to 12 hours later when 6-morphine-glucuroinide is produced or metabolized, so I'm not sure how this is a metabolite that would reach the receptors of the brain in the beginning stages as you claimed.
DeleteSo this antibody would be used to get heroin patients through detox in rehab? I wonder how long the treatment would have to be.
ReplyDeleteYes ma'am! The whole purpose of their research was to find a method that could be used to help patients withdraw from heroin drug use. Since euphoria is what keeps users addicted, the researches target this aspect.
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