The researchers, from The University of Texas at Austin, report their findings in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.
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The researchers added that if the treatment if shown to be effective in humans, it could help prevent relapses by erasing the unconscious memories behind addiction.
Environmental cues play a huge role in whether or not someone will relapse into their addictive habits. When an addict experiences these cues, their cravings become much more poignant and harder to control. Antihypertensive drugs block an ion channel present in certain brain cells, reversing the rewiring that creates the memories of addiction-associated places.
A commonly used blood pressure medicine could cure alcohol and drug addiction, a new study claims. Rats that developed an addiction would nearly always prefer the room that correlated to their drug. In the next step the rats had been given high doses of an antihypertensive drug known as isradipine before they made their choices.
The science behind addiction and what it does to the brain is fascinating.
One of the drivers of alcohol and drug addiction is the powerful and enduring memories of the triggers – the people, places, sights and sounds that lead up to and surround episodes of substance use. The researchers found that blocking the specific kind of ion channel expressed in heart, blood vessels and certain brain cells with the drug isradipine can suppress the memories of addiction. Professor Morikawa and his team hope that this study will enable healthcare workers to offer better help to those looking for it. “Addicts show up to the rehab center already addicted…”
Many addicts continue to not want to admit that they have a problem, and other who actively seek out help often relapse months, weeks or even days after getting clean.
Addictive drugs are thought to influence brain circuits crucial to reward learning, leading to strong memories of drug-related signals. The researchers also said that isradipine can be easily moved to clinical trials as it is already approved for use by U.S. FDA. Caution must be exercised, though.
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According to Morikawa, there might be downsides to using isradipine in high doses since it is originally used to treat high blood pressure.
