Scientists Find Enzymatic Pathway Common for Drug Addictions

Drug addiction has been one of the major threats to the stability of civilized society and the trend is growing with passage of time. Scientists have been looking for a way to treat drug addiction that is difficult curing. However, a recent research seems to have made a breakthrough by finding out the common pathway for drug addictions. New discoveries in this regard made by the French scientists could open up avenues for therapeutic treatment of drug addiction. “The molecular adaptations induced by ERK include epigenetic regulation that causes a stable response that modifies the structure of DNA, hence accounting for long-term neuronal plasticity”, explains Paris based Professor Dr Jocelyne Caboche of Pierre-and-Marie-Curie University. Along with Dr Peter Vanhoutte, Caboche was conducting research on neuronal adaptations occurring in brain as a response to consistent use of drugs. This ultimately develops into drug addiction. Therefore the scientists examined the enzymatic pathways activated in human brain on exposure to addictive drugs and came to the conclusion that ERK as enzymatic pathway is common in case of drugs of abuse.