Using gene therapy, researchers have demonstrated in rats that increasing the levels of dopamine D2 receptors in the brain can reduce use of cocaine by 75 percent.

"By increasing dopamine D2 receptor levels, we saw a dramatic drop in these rats' interest in cocaine," said lead author Panayotis (Peter) Thanos, a neuroscientist with Brookhaven Lab and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Laboratory of Neuroimaging. "This provides new evidence that low levels of dopamine D2 receptors may play an important role in not just alcoholism but in cocaine abuse as well. It also shows a potential direction for addiction therapies."

The study, published online in the journal Synapse, indicates that gene therapy may be a promising method to treat drug and alcohol addiction.