new drug to treat cannabis addiction?

[duke]

Is a Drug to Treat Cannabis Addiction Finally Within Reach?
Marine Cygler

June 23, 2023
6
42
Share
Add to Email Alerts
BORDEAUX, France — Could AEF0117, a drug that has a novel mechanism of action in the brain, be the drug to fight cannabis addiction? Results from a phase 2a clinical trial that examined the efficacy of AEF0117 in patients with cannabis use disorder have created quite a stir. The study was published in Nature Medicine. Not only did AEF0117 weaken the effects of cannabis, but it also decreased a person's desire to use it, all without causing withdrawal symptoms. These findings have generated a significant buzz in the scientific and medical community.

"In the past, 8% of cannabis users would develop an addiction — today, this figure is 15%. Addiction to cannabis has become the main reason for seeking treatment at specialist drug clinics," said Pier Vincenzo Piazza, MD, PhD, psychiatrist, neurobiologist, and general director of Aelis Farma, the biopharmaceutical company that developed AEF0117.

This rise in cases can be explained by the increase in THC content in cannabis over the years. THC content increased from 5% in the 1970s to 30% today. Although cannabis is still less addictive than tobacco (33% of users become addicted), cocaine, heroin, or alcohol (25% of users become addicted), the number of cannabis users is increasing. Currently, 14.2 million in the United States and more than half a million in France use cannabis.

CB1 Receptor Inhibition
AEF0117 is the first signaling-specific inhibitor of the CB1 receptor. THC acts in the brain via CB1 cannabinoid receptors located on neurons. The total inhibition of CB1 receptors has long been an avenue of research, but the adverse effects caused by CB1 receptor antagonists are incompatible with a therapeutic approach.

"We thought that it would be impossible to modulate part of a receptor by a molecule. But in 2014, we discovered this unexpected natural mechanism precisely at the level of the CB1 cannabinoid receptors," Piazza told Medscape French Edition. At the time, he was the director of the Magendie Neurology Center (Inserm ― the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research) in Bordeaux, France. Along with his colleagues, he demonstrated that in response to high doses of THC, a hormone, pregnenolone, is synthesized and becomes bound to CB1 receptors, which reduces some of the effects of THC. The discovery of this new mechanism was published in Science in 2014.

"It then took 2 years to create a synthetic molecule that could mimic the effects of pregnenolone on the CB1 receptors," Piazza continued. Unlike pregnenolone, the new molecule needed to to be fully absorbable, stable, and not transformable into other steroids.

Triple Action
AEF0117 was assessed as part of a placebo-controlled, double-blind, phase 2a study. The participants were volunteers who had a cannabis addiction. In the treated group, the volunteers received either 0.06 mg (n = 14) or 1 mg (n = 15) of the investigational drug. Use of AEF0117 was associated with a significant reduction in the positive subjective effects of cannabis (19% for the 0.06-mg dose and 38% for the 1-mg dose; P < .04). The investigators showed an association with reduced cannabis use, as measured by self-administration (P < .05). No adverse events were linked to the treatment in comparison with placebo. Furthermore, there were no withdrawal symptoms, even among healthy volunteers who would smoke several grams of cannabis a day.

link to source (for which you may need to sign up) https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/99 ... ID=5572815

[Herbalist]

Interesting stuff. If it works then it works. Personally i believe the key to fighting addiction in the general public (weather it be weed, coke, heroine, ect) boils down to education at a young age and well funded social care programmes so people struggling with mental health problems get help and treatment instead of resorting to an "escape." (You can wait months or even years for the mental health team to get the ball rolling, by wich time, in many cases, it's too late.) I have had a LOT to do with addiction over the years and every addict i know (and i know quite a few) is running from / escaping personal trauma of some sort.

[2-Scoops]

Pier Vincenzo Piazza, MD, PhD, psychiatrist, neurobiologist, and general director of Aelis Farma, the biopharmaceutical company that developed AEF0117.

Those crazy Frenchies, i bet that Pier geezer has got lots of shares in that drug company. Cannabis addiction, dont make laugh . Me thinks that Frenchy guy with all capitol letters after his name doesn't know real meaning of addiction.

No adverse events were linked to the treatment in comparison with placebo.

Me wonders what adverse events or effects were for the placebo takers who stopped weed, possibly rattling like an old skag head gagging for his breakfast fix. You crack me up Mr Pier with capitol letters after your name, you crazy Frenchy guy.

[Herbalist]

Well lord have mercy..weed addiction