New type of vaccine developed.

2003 JUN 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have designed a new way to make vaccines against drugs of abuse that could become a valuable tool for treating addiction by helping the body clear the drug from the bloodstream.

The latest vaccine they created using this approach induces the body to clear nicotine.

"These new vaccines greatly suppress the reinforcing aspects of the drug," said principal investigator Kim D. Janda, PhD. "Blocking it before it gets to the brain - that's the key."

The structure and design of the nicotine vaccine are described in an article that will be published in the June 18, 2003 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Research Associate Michael M. Meijler, PhD, who is the article's lead author, synthesized this vaccine under the guidance of Janda, who holds the Ely R. Callaway Jr. Chair in Chemistry and is an investigator in the Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology at TSRI.

Having shown the vaccine's effectiveness in laboratory models, Meijler and Janda have now reformulated the vaccine for investigation for use in human trials. Eventually, this sort of vaccine would be given to people undergoing smoking cessation programs to aid in their recovery.

Many believe that people continue to smoke because tobacco contains nicotine, which is an addictive chemical. Many smoking cessation strategies, in fact, provide cigarette addicts with nicotine from sources other than tobacco-such as patches or gum.

Janda and his laboratory, however, have taken an "immunopharmacotherapy" ...