Possible Clinical Drug Treatment for Methamphetamine Addiction Recovery through Wakefulness-Promoting Drug, Modafinil

Meagan Schmuck*, Vincent Setola, Ph.D.
Health Sciences Center, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506

Presentation Category: Science & Techonology (Oral Presentation)

Student’s Major: Nursing

Methamphetamine (METH) is one of the most addictive and widely used drugs of abuse worldwide. METH is so addictive because of its actions on the brain’s reward system. METH, through a series of mechanisms, results in markedly increased activity of the neurotransmitter dopamine, the brain’s “feel good” molecule. Chronic METH use is related to psychosis, malnutrition, cardiovascular problems, chronic fatigue, and disturbed sleep patterns, among other health issues. Those recovering from METH use may receive a variety of behavioral treatments to help them get through withdrawal and resist relapse. However, there are no FDA-approved drugs for medically assisted withdrawal treatment. Addiction recovery treatments engaging both behavioral and medically based approaches have been effective for other drugs of abuse (e.g., opioids, nicotine), so the possibility for medically assisted METH cessation would address an urgent unmet clinical need. Modafinil, a drug approved by the FDA for narcolepsy and for daytime sleepiness due to sleep apnea or shift working, also exerts its wakefulness-promoting effects by boosting dopamine neurotransmission in the brain. However, because modafinil is far less potent than METH, it has a very low (if any) potential for abuse, and its chronic use is not associated with any of the ill effects of long-term METH use. Here, we review the literature on modafinil as a potential treatment for METH cessation. We describe clinical studies in humans and pre-clinical studies in rodents suggesting that modafinil may have clinical utility not only for narcolepsy/daytime sleepiness, but also for persons recovering from METH use.

Funding: Federal Work Study

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: WVU's Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP) & accompanying HONR 297-level course