Belgian scientists have identified the importance of the Maged1 gene in the release of dopamine after taking drugs. This could help improve treatment for addiction.
Feeling of well-being, appeasement, renewed energy: drug users can make a very long list of the effects they experience when taking psychotropic drugs. All are linked to the action of substances on a neurotransmitter: dopamine. Its level increases when taking drugs, and it is responsible for the feeling of good humor. According to Belgian researchers from the Free University of Brussels, the Maged1 gene is responsible for this link between drugs and dopamine. The results were published on the website of EMBO reports.
No more addictive effects
To reach these conclusions, the Belgian researchers carried out tests on mice, because animals are also sensitive to the effects of the drug. They inactivated the Maged1 gene in some rodents, which made them unresponsive to cocaine, they did not feel any addictive effects. The amount of dopamine released was also much lower than normal. For these scientists, the Maged1 gene acts on the release of dopamine via neurons in the prefrontal cortex. These findings could help create new, more effective treatments for drug addiction.
The social cost of drugs
Addiction is due to the feeling of well-being and pleasure that comes from a drug. The user does not immediately perceive the negative effects of his consumption, nor the risks he runs, because the substance modifies the electrical and chemical functioning of the brain. Beyond dopamine, drugs can also release endorphins, which fight pain, and serotonin, which tends to inhibit.
The more regularly a person uses drugs, the more the body’s natural production of these hormones will decrease. The individual thus becomes dependent on the drug to experience these effects. Drug addiction obviously has personal consequences, but also collective ones. The French Observatory for Drugs and Drug Addiction (Ofdt) estimated in 2015 the social cost of illicit drugs at 8.7 billion euros in France and that of tobacco at 120 billion euros.
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