Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Jan;19(1):5-9.
doi: 10.15252/embr.201745322. Epub 2017 Dec 13.

Vaccines to combat the opioid crisis: Vaccines that prevent opioids and other substances of abuse from entering the brain could effectively treat addiction and abuse

Affiliations

Vaccines to combat the opioid crisis: Vaccines that prevent opioids and other substances of abuse from entering the brain could effectively treat addiction and abuse

Margaret E Olson et al. EMBO Rep. 2018 Jan.

Abstract

Novel vaccines against substances of abuse generate a strong antibody response that prevents the drug from entering the brain. These could become a safe and efficient tool to combat a growing crisis of opioid abuse.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Mode of action of vaccines against substances of abuse
The conjugate vaccine instills a strong antibody response against heroin or other substances of abuse, which prevents the drug from entering the brain and latching on its target receptor.

References

    1. Volkow ND, Collins FS (2017) The role of science in addressing the opioid crisis. N Engl J Med 377: 391–394 - PubMed
    1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the Surgeon General (2016) Facing addiction in America: The Surgeon General's report on alcohol, drugs, and health. Washington, DC: HHS; - PubMed
    1. Rudd RA, Seth P, David F, Scholl L (2016) Increases in drug and opioid‐involved overdose deaths – United States, 2010–2015. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 65: 1445–1452 - PubMed
    1. Bonese KF, Wainer BH, Fitch FW, Rothberg RM, Schuster CR (1974) Changes in heroin self‐administration by a rhesus monkey after morphine immunization. Nature 252: 708–710 - PubMed
    1. Selley DE, Cao CC, Sexton T, Schwegel JA, Martin TJ, Childers SR (2001) mu Opioid receptor‐mediated G‐protein activation by heroin metabolites: evidence for greater efficacy of 6‐monoacetylmorphine compared with morphine. Biochem Pharmacol 62: 447–455 - PubMed

MeSH terms