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Scientists have discovered that the diabetes/weight reduction drug semaglutide, bought commercially below model names like Ozempic and Wegovy, considerably reduces cocaine-seeking habits in rats. This work must be confirmed in people, nevertheless it means that semaglutide is a candidate to be developed as a therapy for cocaine dependency; in the intervening time there isn’t any efficient pharmacological therapy for cocaine dependency.
The work is revealed within the European Neuropsychopharmacology.
Cocaine is the second hottest unlawful drug utilized in Europe. The European Drug Company stories that round 2.7 million younger adults (between the ages of 15 and 34) use cocaine repeatedly, representing round 2.5% of the inhabitants in that age group. Cocaine use within the UK is the second highest on the earth, with round 2.7% of adults utilizing the drug (see notes). There’s, so far, no efficient pharmacological therapy for problematic cocaine use.
Scientists from the College of Gothenburg in Sweden and the College of Pennsylvania, led by Professor Elisabet Jerlhag (College of Gothenburg), gave male rats entry to directly-injected cocaine, which they might dispense by urgent a lever within the cage. Then an experimental group of 10 of those animals had been handled with semaglutide earlier than being given entry to the cocaine dispenser.
Elisabet Jerlhag stated, “We discovered that compared to the management animals, self-administration of cocaine use dropped by 26% in these animals which had been given semaglutide.
“Earlier outcomes, each from our group and from different teams, have discovered that semaglutide can scale back alcohol consumption and craving in each people and animals, and this work on cocaine appears to replicate these earlier findings on alcohol use. That is the primary trial displaying semaglutide’s potential as a drug for cocaine dependence.
“Importantly, we additionally discovered that after a interval of abstinence, there was a 62% drop in cocaine searching for in these animals which had taken semaglutide and the motivation (work undertaken to achieve the drug) was lowered by 52%.
“This is animal work, so at the moment, we can’t say that we have anywhere near a viable treatment for human cocaine dependency. We need a bigger study to confirm these results, and then we need to see if the findings also apply to humans. However, these results are very promising, underlining the need for human studies, especially since there are no existing pharmacological treatments for cocaine dependency.”
Semaglutide belongs to a category of medicine known as GLP-1 inhibitors. These medicine (together with the same drug Mounjaro) have revolutionized the therapy of extra weight, and at the moment are displaying promise within the therapy of psychological well being issues.
Commenting, Professor Christian Hendershot (of the Institute for Dependancy on the Keck Faculty of Drugs, College of Southern California, Los Angeles) stated, “This is a carefully conducted study that provides additional evidence that GLP-1 receptor agonists can reduce cocaine reinforcement. These findings have clinical implications given the challenges of identifying medications for stimulant use disorder, and the increasing clinical use of semaglutide in many areas of the world. These findings should encourage clinical trials of GLP-1 receptor agonists for stimulant use disorder.”
Professor Hendershot was not concerned on this analysis; that is an impartial remark. Professor Hendershot was lead researcher on the primary randomized, placebo-controlled medical trial of semaglutide’s results on alcohol craving in adults.
Extra data:
Cajsa Aranäs et al, Semaglutide suppresses cocaine taking, searching for, and cocaine-evoked dopamine ranges within the nucleus accumbens, European Neuropsychopharmacology (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2025.07.001
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European School of Neuropsychopharmacology
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Weight-loss drug semaglutide proven to cut back cocaine use in rats (2025, September 4)
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