Molecular models for pharmacological tolerance and addiction.

Historical review: Molecular and cellular mechanisms of opiate and cocaine addiction.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse was founded in 1974, and since that time there have been significant advances in understanding the processes by which drugs of abuse cause addiction. The initial protein targets for almost all drugs of abuse are now known. Animal models that replicate key features of addiction are available, and these models have made it possible to characterize the brain re...

A Review on Medicinal Plants Used in Animal Models and Clinical Trials concerning Drug Addiction

Addiction to drugs, such as heroin, cocaine and alcohol, exacts great human and financial costs on society. Various evidence-based pharmacological and psychosocial interventions are currently used in the treatment of drug addiction but they do not produce adequate therapeutic benefits in every patient. Further, barriers such as financial cost, lack of availability, or perceptions of existing tr...

Alcohol and Cognition; From Neurotoxicity Prevention to Cognitive Rehabilitation

Alcohol provokes different molecular pathways contributing to a clinically significant neurotoxicity in different brain areas. Affected cognition in alcoholics can influence both daily life functioning and alcohol craving management abilities. Preventing alcohol-induced neurotoxicity with different neuroprotective pharmacological interventions is receiving strong scientific backgrounds from pub...

Tolerance and dependence: implications for the pharmacological treatment of addiction.

Hooked on benzodiazepines: GABAA receptor subtypes and addiction.

Benzodiazepines are widely used clinically to treat anxiety and insomnia. They also induce muscle relaxation, control epileptic seizures, and can produce amnesia. Moreover, benzodiazepines are often abused after chronic clinical treatment and also for recreational purposes. Within weeks, tolerance to the pharmacological effects can develop as a sign of dependence. In vulnerable individuals with...