A new psychoactive molecule has now shown new positive pre-clinical results for the treatment of substance use disorder.
On Wednesday, Clearmind Medicine Inc. (CSE: CMND) (OTC Pink: CMNDF) (FSE: CWY0) announced that its MEAI molecule had demonstrated promising potential for the treatment of cocaine dependency in a pre-clinical trial conducted on animals.
The news comes after the Israeli-Canadian public company revealed that MEAI had shown vast potential for the treatment of alcoholism in May, and after the company’s initial positive pre-clinical results for the treatment of cocaine use disorder released in June.
Clearmind Medicine Announces Additional Positive Pre-Clinical Results for its Cocaine Addiction Treatment
August 24, 2022 https://t.co/rfCVVH8JIS#biotechnology #MEAI #alcoholusedisorder #brainhealth #pressrelease #news pic.twitter.com/wEodiT4QyY
— Clearmind Medicine (@ClearmindCMND) August 24, 2022
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The pre-clinical trial was led by a team of researchers from the Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center at Bar Ilan University in Israel and utilized what’s known as the “self-administration paradigm” which the company says is the gold standard for examining drug addiction and is essentially based on operant conditioning techniques where rats (in this case) are taught to understand specific consequences for voluntary behaviour.
In this trial, the rats were taught to self-administer cocaine and once the addiction model for them was established they then went through a phase where no cocaine was administered and the MEAI compound was given to them. Additionally, a so-called relapse phase was carried out where the now addicted rats were reminded of the drug with a single dose and then returned to their former habitat where they could self-administer the cocaine again.
The researchers assumed that the more the rats desired to have cocaine the more they would press on the “active pedal” that would give it to them before.
The results of the trial then identified a sub-group of rats (approximately 60 per cent) that dramatically responded to the MEAI treatment and had substantially reduced cravings for cocaine in comparison to a non-treated control group of rats.
Clearmind says that these results align with its initial positive findings for MEAI and its potential for treating cocaine dependency disorder earlier this year.
“Rats treated with MEAI spent less time in the compartment associated with cocaine. Results suggest a potential role for MEAI in abolishing cocaine-induced conditioned place preference and eliminating heightened craving, and that the compound (MEAI) was not itself addictive,” said Clearmind in a June statement.
Photo via Clearmind Medicine
Clearmind is a new biotechnology organization primarily concerned with the development of psychedelic medicines for the treatment of addiction and other health conditions. The company says that it holds several patents for its MEAI molecule.
Additionally, Clearmind has collaborated with the Israeli Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Bar Ilan University to undertake research pertinent to its goals of creating new psychedelic-derived therapeutics.
The company also released a YouTube video in May discussing the promising potential of MEAI for the treatment of alcoholism and substance use disorders.
