“What we are looking for is to generate a biological that can block the effects of the cocaine and of crack. And that can help consumers get out of the vicious circle of drugs”. This was explained by a group of Brazilian scientists in an interview this week, who have been working on a anti-cocaine vaccine what will be called “Calixcoca”as they claimed.
The project won last week €500.000 of the prize Euro Innovation in Health Latin Americawhich was financed by the pharmaceutical company Eurofarma to “promote innovative and high-impact solutions” in the health area, they said.
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Calixcoca: what the vaccine is about and what are its effects
“It is a therapeutic vaccine. Its function is to help the chemical addict to produce antibodies that can be coupled to the drug, and prevent it from entering the brain.” said the psychiatrist Frederico Garciaproject coordinator of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG).
In practice, what the vaccine will look for is block the rewarding feeling produced by cocaine when it activates the region of the brain known as “reward area”. By breaking that cycle, which leads to drug compulsion, the vaccine “will increase opportunities” that addicts who want to remain abstinent “are able to do so,” García explains.
In the animal tests, prior to the next stage with humans, the researchers visualized significant antibody production against cocaine, which also included few side effects.
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Evolution. Beyond the arrival of warmer temperatures, coronavirus infections continue and most people have not received vaccines for months.
Calixcoca, heading towards its health approval in Brazil
Furthermore, the vaccine protected rat fetuses from cocainewhich is a result that if replicated in humans, could help in the treatment of pregnant women with addiction problems. Although there were already similar research projects in the United States, these could not be continued because there were “insufficient results” in clinical practices, among other reasons listed by García.
The “Calixcoca” vaccine It is the first project of this kind in Latin America. And if clinical trials “show that the vaccine is effective and get the registration of the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa)would become the first anti-cocaine vaccine y anti-drug of the planet used as medicine,” says García.
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Being made from chemical compounds designed in laboratory (against biological compounds from other vaccines), the antigen would also be the least expensive to produce. It would not even require a cold chain for transportation.
“There is no registered treatment specific for cocaine or crack dependence. Today, psychological approaches, social assistance and eventually hospitalization are used,” argued the psychiatrist.
Drugs and consumption: what are the effects of cocaine on the body
Among the effects to short term of cocaine consumption include, among others: extreme energy and happinessmental alertness, hypersensitivity to light, sound and touch, irritability y paranoia (extreme and unjustified distrust of others).
There are also other effects of using this drug, including restriction of blood vesselsdilation of the pupils, nausea, increased body temperature and blood pressure, accelerated or irregular heart rate, tremors and muscle spasms, as well as restlessness or restlessness.
2023-10-27 19:54:26
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