FRIDAY, July 9 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers report that
they've discovered tiny molecules that appear to forestall
cocaine addiction in rats and may have the same effect in
humans. The findings, reported in the July 8 issue of the
journal Nature, are preliminary, but they "offer promise for the
development of a totally new class of anti-addiction
medications," said study senior author Paul J. Kenny, an
associate professor at Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter,
Fla., in a news release from the U.S. National Institute on Drug
Abuse (NIDA), which funded the study. The molecules at issue,
known as microRNAs, are a part of RNA and help the body follow
the genetic instructions in DNA. In the study, researchers gave
cocaine to rats and discovered that it boosted levels of a
specific sequence of microRNA in the brain. The rats disliked
cocaine more as the levels went up, but liked it more as they
went down. "This study enhances our understanding of how brain
mechanisms, at their most fundamental levels, may con