Trace Amine-Associated Receptor Type 1 as A Target for The Development of Treatments for Stimulant Abuse

New research has implicated a potential target in the treatment of stimulant abuse. As with opioid abuse, stimulant abuse consists of a primary group for substance abuse disorders. However, there is no medication for the treatment of stimulant abuse such as amphetamines, substrates for the dopamine transporter, and cocaine, a dopamine reuptake inhibitor. Stimulants have in common a capacity to increase extracellular DA levels in terminal regions of mesolimbic dopaminergic neurons [1, 2]. Preclinical studies suggest that dopamine receptor antagonists possess the potential as medications for stimulant abuse while clinical studies failed to support the positive findings in laboratory animals [3]. The negative findings with dopamine receptor antagonists might result from their capacity to produce “surmountable” antagonism of stimulant self-administration since the reinforcing effects of stimulants can be restored in the presence of the dopamine receptor antagonist if doses of stimulants are increased [4, 5].