Antibodies as pharmacokinetic and metabolic modifiers of neurotoxicity.

Abstract

Abuse of psychoactive chemicals can result in neurotoxic effects that are difficult to treat medically. Successful therapy is often hindered by the lack of useful antagonists for many of these chemicals and by the extensive distribution of these chemicals out of the bloodstream. Although there are treatments for opiate addiction and an antagonist for opiate overdose, there are no such medical treatments for most drugs of abuse such as phencyclidine (PCP) and cocaine. Therefore, this chapter focuses on recent advances in immunotherapy which suggest this novel approach could be beneficial in the treatment of drug abuse.