Your Immune System Could Aid Fight Against Opioid Addiction

The same immune system that fights infection and the flu could join the battle against opioid addiction, new research out of the Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research indicates. Erin Calipari, assistant professor of pharmacology and corresponding author on a paper in the Journal of Neuroscience, says there’s promise in specific immune system peptides – amino acid compounds that signal cells how to function. In this case, they may be affecting brain activity and, by extension, drug cravings. “We found we could target these immune peptides and change the cravings that male mice and rats had for food and sugar,” Calipari said. “Now we’re looking at what we need to do before we can take this into human clinical trials. This is exciting because we see how peripheral systems such as the immune system could be influencing cravings.” https://www.technologynetworks.com/tn/news/your-immune-system-could-aid-fight-against-opioid-addiction-309194?utm_campaign=Newsletter_TN_BreakingScienceNews&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=65721838&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8RnLfHhqJ8-ojRN8L_4L2U3p7D-raaR5UeNC8xQ0_vkfqiSQHv0mcO1BDqNE3lvtJaVKtYolrYtKdoNn31V6WERd78YQ&_hsmi=65721838