Researchers create vaccine against heroin high

Researchers at the Scripps Research Institute have created a vaccine that stops the high one gets from from heroin. Designed as a therapeutic option for those trying to break their addiction, the vaccine produces antibodies that stop heroin as well as other psychoactive compounds metabolized from heroin from reaching the brain to produce euphoric effects.

Previous efforts to create a clinically viable heroin vaccine have struggled because heroin is metabolized into multiple substances that each produce psychoactive effects. To overcome this problem the researchers, led by the study's principal investigator, Kim D. Janda, targeted not just the heroin itself, but also the chemical it quickly degrades into, 6-acetylmorphine (6AM), and morphine.

They linked a heroin-like hapten (a small molecule that elicits an immune response only when attached to a large carrier) to a generic carrier protein called keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH), and mixed it with Alum, a vaccine additive, to create a vaccine "cocktail." This mixture slowly degraded in the body, exposing the immune system to different psychoactive metabolites of heroin such as 6AM and morphine.

"Critically, the vaccine produces antibodies to a constantly changing drug target," said G. Neil Stowe, who is first author of the new study. "Such an approach has never before been engaged with drug-of-abuse vaccines."

Testing the vaccine on rats provided promising results. After several booster shots of the vaccine, heroin addicted rates were found to be less likely to self-administer heroin by pressing on a lever. Only three of the seven rats that received the vaccine self-administered heroin compared to all of the control rats, including those that had been given a vaccine that only targeted morphine.

The team also found that the heroin vaccine was highly specific, only producing an antibody response to heroin and 6AM and not to other opioid-related drugs tested, such as oxycodone, and drugs used to treat opioid dependence, such as methadone, naltrexone, and naloxone.

"The importance of this is that it indicates these vaccines could be used in combination with other heroin rehabilitation therapies," said Janda.

"In my 25 years of making drug-of-abuse vaccines, I haven't seen such a strong immune response as I have with what we term a dynamic anti-heroin vaccine," Janda added. "It is just extremely effective. The hope is that such a protective vaccine will be an effective therapeutic option for those trying to break their addiction to heroin."

The Scripps Research team has also recently begun collaborating with researchers at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research to see if it is feasible to develop a dual-purpose vaccine against HIV and for the treatment of heroin addiction in a single shot.

Source: Gizmag

Synthetic Vocal Cord gel could restore function to damaged vocal chords

Whether caused by intubation during surgery, laryngeal cancer, lesion removal, or simply overuse, vocal cord scarring can limit or even eliminate some peoples' ability to speak. This is because the scar tissue is stiff, and doesn't allow the vocal cords to vibrate adequately. Some doctors have tried to soften the tissue using materials from the fields of plastic surgery and dermatology, but the treatment doesn't work in all cases, and the effects are said not to last very long. Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard Medical School, however, are developing a new approach - an injectable gel that mimics vocal cord tissue.

Rather than approaching the problem as a physiological one, they looked at the vocal cords as a mechanical issue. That is, they didn’t attack the scar tissue in the vocal cords but devised a fix for it. That fix came in the form of a material known as polyethylene glycol (PEG), which they chose because it is already FDA approved for other medical applications.

Lab tests have also shown that it can restore vibration to stiffened, scarred vocal cords. The MIT/Harvard project is attempting to restore vocal functions despite the presence of scar tissue, while other approaches (such as those involving drug treatments) have focused more on trying to get rid of that tissue.

Their PEG30 gel, should it receive its own FDA approval, would be categorized as an injectable medical device rather than a drug, which could further speed it to market. If approved, it would have to be re-injected every six months or so because it breaks down over time. But it could restore voice to many who have lost their primary means of expression.

The video below shows how the gel performs, as compared to actual vocal cords.

Detecting and controlling seizures with brain implants

In the future, people who are prone to seizures may get an array of electrodes implanted in their brains. These electrodes would be capable of detecting the onset of a seizure, and then releasing medication to prevent it from happening. While it might sound far-fetched, scientists at the University of Pittsburgh have already demonstrated the technology on lab rats.

Multielectrode arrays (MEAs) are capable of recording or controlling the electrical activity in neurons, and are used in devices such as ear implants and pacemakers. The Pittsburgh team coated MEAs with the polymer Polypyrrole (PPy), which is known for its electrical conductivity. Mixed in with the PPy were anti-convulsive neurochemicals.

The coated MEAs were then placed on a rat's brain, and electrically stimulated. This caused the neurochemicals to dissociate from the PPy, and diffuse into the adjacent regions of the brain. Testing indicated that after dissociation, the drugs still remained effective.

Similar technologies have involved implants with built-in drug reservoirs, although these would be larger than the coated MEAs, and could cause tissue damage.

"By directly loading a drug of interest onto an individual electrode site and using an electrical signal to trigger its release, we can precisely control the drug delivery site with ease," said the study's co-author, Prof. X Tracy Cui. "Additionally, our technology can be used for a combination of exogenous chemicals such as subtype-specific receptor antagonists, thus potentially allowing for more precise dissection of neural circuit function at the molecular level."

The research was published this week in the Journal of Neural Engineering.

Source: Gizmag

Cotton candy-like material used to heal difficult wounds

DermaFuse, a glass nanofiber material that looks like cotton candy, has been shown to speed healing in difficult-to-treat wounds

Many diabetics suffer from a condition known as venous stasis, which can result in wounds on their extremities that remain unhealed for up to several years – if infection sets in, amputation of the limb is sometimes even necessary. Such wounds can sometimes be treated with vacuum-assisted systems, but the equipment required is expensive, and must be carried by the patient at all times. In clinical trials conducted last year, however, human venous stasis wounds were quickly and thoroughly healed with an inexpensive new glass nanofiber material, that looks like cotton candy.

Known as "DermaFuse," the material is made from borate glass by the Mo-Sci Corporation in Rolla, Missouri. Similar "bioglass" materials do already exist, but they are made from silica and are used in the regeneration of hard tissues, such as bone. Boron has been shown to react to body fluids considerably faster than silica,and to be effective against harmful bacteria, which is why Mo-Sci chose to use it in DermaFuse.

The material is designed to mimic the microstructure of fibrin, which is one of the main components of blood clots. Like fibrin, the glass fibers trap blood platelets, and provide a scaffolding for the wound covering to form across. DermaFuse is also rich in calcium, which has been shown to speed healing by assisting the migration of epidermal cells to the wound site.

As the wound heals, the fibers are absorbed by the patient's body – little if any scarring results, and no bandages or sutures need to be removed.

After initial animal trials, DermaFuse was tried out on a group of 12 human venous stasis patients in 2010. Venous stasis is caused by poor blood circulation in the extremities, which results in fluid pooling in those areas (especially the lower legs) and creating pressure on the skin. When the skin cracks or receives a small wound and the fluid weeps out, an enzyme within the fluid erodes the skin and makes the wound larger, while also making healing difficult.

In the human trials, a nurse packed the material into the patients' wounds, then added a protective secondary covering. After a few months, the wounds on eight of the patients were fully healed, while the other four were reportedly progressing well.

Mo-Sci is now planning on expanded human trials in the coming months. It is hoped that DermaFuse could eventually also be used to treat injuries such as burns, or used as a field dressing by ambulance crews and army medics.

The research was just published in the bulletin of The American Ceramic Society.

Source: Gizmag

Self Healing Car Paint Now Possible

Nobody likes scratches in their car's finish. That's part of the reason why over the years, a number of research facilities have tried to develop self-healing paint. These efforts have resulted in products containing things such as microcapsulesthat burst open when scratched, elastic resins, and even a chemical derived from the exoskeletons of crustaceans. Now, scientists from the U.S. and Switzerland have developed polymers – which could be used in paint – that heal their own scratches when exposed to ultraviolet light.

The metallo-supramolecular polymers were created by a team from Cleveland'sCase Western Reserve University, the Adolphe Merkle Institute at Switzerland's University of Fribourg, and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory.

Newly-created polymers liquefy and fill in scratches when exposed to UV light, then resolidify once the light source is removed

Made using a process known as supramolecular assembly, the polymers are composed of relatively small molecules assembled into long chains, held together with metal ions. When exposed to intense UV light, those molecules become temporarily "unglued," transforming the material from a solid to a liquid that fills any scratches within less than one minute. Once the light source is removed, the molecules reassemble and the polymers resolidify, sans scratches. The unique properties of the metal ions are said to be the key to the reaction.

In lab tests on polymer samples, the scientists found that they could treat scratches in specific areas by using a highly-focusable lamp like those used by dentists to cure fillings. Simple heat also worked, although it wasn't as easy to control as the UV light. It was also found that the exact same area could be scratched and healed over and over again, which has not been the case with some other self-healing substances.

The researchers say that there is still work to be done before the polymers could be a commercially-viable product – for one thing, it's been discovered that while polymers with the most ordered molecular structures offer the best mechanical qualities, those with the least-ordered structures are the best at healing. Once the bugs are worked out, however, the polymers could eventually find use not only in paint, but also in floor and furniture varnish, and on windows in abrasive environments.