新澳门六合彩内幕信息

$2.7M Grant to 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis to Find New Addiction Treatments Related to Psychedelics

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Graphic of colored neurons
Drugs related to psychedelics can treat psychiatric disorders by rewiring connections between nerve cells. New technology developed at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis allows rapid screening of such potential new drugs. (Calvin Ly/新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis)

Evidence from human and animal testing suggests the brain-altering effects of psychedelics could be repurposed for treating addiction. 

Now, researchers at the University of California, Davis, and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus plan to screen hundreds of compounds to discover new, nonhallucinogenic treatments for substance use disorders. The research is funded by a $2.7 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Previous work has shown psychedelic drugs can rewire parts of the brain involved in depression, substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder. David Olson, associate professor in the departments of Chemistry, and Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis, is searching for similar effects among compounds  like LSD. He calls these compounds psychoplastogens, for their ability to modify the brain.

鈥淚鈥檓 very excited that NIDA is recognizing the potential that psychoplastogens might have for patients with substance use disorders,鈥 Olson said. 鈥淭his grant will help us to understand the basic mechanisms by which these compounds impact addiction, and hopefully develop more effective and better tolerated treatments.鈥

Olson鈥檚 work is part of a growing focus on psychedelics research at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis and 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis Health. His lab has synthesized hundreds of molecules related to psychedelics in the search for new drug therapies. One such molecule, tabernanthalog, or TBG, produces both rapid and sustained anti-addictive effects in rodent models of heroin and alcohol self-administration. 

The research will include mechanistic studies to understand how TBG impacts addiction and the development of new compounds with psychoplastogenic effects, he said. The team will use high-throughput screening to test for efficacy, safety and treatment potential. Promising compounds will undergo additional animal testing at CU Anschutz.

Delix Therapeutics, a startup founded by Olson, is also investigating nonhallucinogenic psychoplastogens for treating depression, anxiety and related disorders but is not involved in the project.

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Media Contacts:

  • David Olson, Chemistry, deolson@ucdavis.edu
  • Andy Fell, News and Media Relations, 530-304-8888, ahfell@ucdavis.edu

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