Currently, no effective treatment exists to help recovering addicts avoid using cocaine. A compound that would reduce or eliminate the pleasurable effects of cocaine, as it is believed quipazine and alaproclate might, would be a great boon to the treatment process. Cocaine abuse remains one of the most intractable drug problems facing this nation, where close to 2 million people use cocaine at least once a month. Scientists are continuing to study the neurological effects of this drug, hoping that a better understanding of how the drug affects the brain will result in the development of effective treatments. One promising area of research is the use of serotonin compounds to modulate the effects of cocaine.
Neurons communicate by sending chemical messengers across small gaps called synapses.
An action potential, an electrical signal that originates in the cell body, travels along the axon, resulting in the release of a chemical messenger called a neurotransmitter into the synapse. Neurotransmitters diffuse across the synapse and bind to receptors, proteins found in the membrane of the postsynaptic neuron, which usually results in an action potential in that neuron. Neurotransmitters can be removed from the synapse by proteins called transporters. Cocaine affects the system by blocking transporters, which leads to an accumulation of DA in the synapse, thereby increasing the possibility of a postsynaptic response. Mary Ritz found that it is this buildup of DA and subsequent heightened postsynaptic activation which results in the rewarding effects of cocaine.