Combining a drug used to treat alcoholism with a drug treatment for opiate addiction may be the key to treating cocaine addicts, Yale researchers have found.

When buprenorphine, an alternative to methadone for treating opiate addiction, was combined with disulfiram -- marketed as Antabuse for treating alcoholism -- the combination was more effective than buprenorphine alone in reducing cocaine use.

Dr. Tony P. George, assistant professor of psychiatry at the School of Medicine and principal investigator on the study, said participants who received a combination of disulfiram and buprenorphine abstained from cocaine use for longer periods of time than those who received only buprenorphine. These same participants also achieved three weeks of continuous cocaine abstinence sooner than those who received buprenorphine alone. George's team found no significant differences in the total weeks of opiate abstinence between disulfiram in combination with buprenorphine, and buprenorphine alone.

"Our work reinforces previous research that suggests administering disulfiram prior to cocaine use may block the pleasurable and rewarding effects caused by an excessive release of dopamine in the brain," said George. "Instead of experiencing euphoria and other feelings of well-being associated with cocaine use, a person who has taken disulfiram before using cocaine will experience reactions such as anxiety, dysphoria or paranoia."

Past studies show that either buprenorphine or methadone alone is effective in reducing opiate use, but neither is effective in reducing concurrent cocaine use by opiate-dependent individuals.

In the study, which appears in the spring 2000 issue of Biological Psychiatry, 20 individuals addicted to both opiates and cocaine were place on buprenorphine therapy. While all the participants continued to receive buprenorphine, 11 were randomly assigned to receive disulfiram and nine were assigned to receive a placebo for 12 weeks. George said larger, controlled studies of disulfiram for treating cocaine addiction are planned in participants being maintained by buprenorphine.

George's study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a component of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Other authors on the study include Marek C. Chawarski, Juliana Pakes, Kathleen M. Carroll, Thomas R. Kosten and Richard S. Schottenfeld.

-- By Karen Peart

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

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Reunions bring record numbers to campus

Yale SOM taking to the high seas to offer educational seminars for executives

School of Music awards first Simeone scholarship

Rubenfeld named to Law School's Slaughter chair

Events to celebrate the arrival of 'Amistad' ship

MEDICAL SCHOOL NEWS

• Cocaine treatment blends drugs for alcohol, opiate abuse
  
  
• Team studying the factors leading to cocaine addiction
  
  
• Many elderly prefer hospital stay to home care, study shows
  
  
• Herpesviruses will be focus of international conference
  
  
• Study: Grief for dead spouse impacts health
  
  
• Team finds sick teens are often suicidal
  
  
• Scientists say play prepares children for school
  
  
• Grants to fund Yale research on mental illness
  

OBITUARIES

• Long-time professor William N. Parker dies
  
  
• Physicist E. Robert Beringer, specialist in microwave spectroscopy, dies
  
  
• Arts advocate, gallery curator Janet Dickson dies
  
  

SOM Dean Jeffrey Garten assembles panel to explore 'new economy'

Study proposes tax on snack foods to fight obesity

Employees honored at awards dinner for their many years of service to Yale

Holmes is inducted into American Philosophical Society

Ian Shapiro selected as a Carnegie Scholar . . .

Comer lauded as leader in American education

DeVita honored for his research on lymphoma

Yale Athletics joins in venture to lure sports fans

Summer Cabaret season celebrates Yale playwrights

Yale Repertory Theatre marks milestones during its fall season

Diana D. Brooks resigns her post as Yale trustee

David Bromwich earns prestigious award for his literary works

Campus Notes

In the News

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