最近，科学家研究发现了一种基因变体，携带这种基因的人比一般人更容易对香烟和毒品上隐。研究发现：可卡因上瘾者中，25％的人携带有这种基因。这一发现对治愈可卡因上瘾提供了很大的帮助，科学家希望它用来防止想尝试毒品的行为以及研发相关的手段。
组织这项研究的德国曼海姆的精神卫生研究中心的精神药理学教授Rainer Spanagel说：“如果你是这种基因变体的携带者，对可卡因上瘾的可能性就高，这是你的弱点。”他还说，现在主要是采取劝导或保护的手段抵制携带者对可卡因的诱惑。科学家正在研制一种疫苗，携带者注射后可降低对毒品的兴奋度。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原始出处：
PNAS November 11, 2008 doi: 10.1073/pnas.0803959105
Loss of the Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase type IV in dopaminoceptive neurons enhances behavioral effects of cocaine
Ainhoa Bilbao, Jan Rodriguez Parkitna, David Engblom, Stéphanie Perreau-Lenz, Carles Sanchis-Segura, Miriam Schneider, Witold Konopka, Magdalena Westphal, Gerome Breen, Sylvane Desrivieres, Matthias Klugmann, Camila Guindalini, Homero Vallada, Ronaldo Laranjeira, Fernando Rodriguez de Fonseca, Gunter Schumann, Günther Schütz, and Rainer Spanagel
The persistent nature of addiction has been associated with activity-induced plasticity of neurons within the striatum and nucleus accumbens (NAc). To identify the molecular processes leading to these adaptations, we performed Cre/loxP-mediated genetic ablations of two key regulators of gene expression in response to activity, the Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IV (CaMKIV) and its postulated main target, the cAMP-responsive element binding protein (CREB). We found that acute cocaine-induced gene expression in the striatum was largely unaffected by the loss of CaMKIV. On the behavioral level, mice lacking CaMKIV in dopaminoceptive neurons displayed increased sensitivity to cocaine as evidenced by augmented expression of locomotor sensitization and enhanced conditioned place preference and reinstatement after extinction. However, the loss of CREB in the forebrain had no effect on either of these behaviors, even though it robustly blunted acute cocaine-induced transcription. To test the relevance of these observations for addiction in humans, we performed an association study of CAMK4 and CREB promoter polymorphisms with cocaine addiction in a large sample of addicts. We found that a single nucleotide polymorphism in the CAMK4 promoter was significantly associated with cocaine addiction, whereas variations in the CREB promoter regions did not correlate with drug abuse. These findings reveal a critical role for CaMKIV in the development and persistence of cocaine-induced behaviors, through mechanisms dissociated from acute effects on gene expression and CREB-dependent transcription.
