Bupropion shows promise as treatment for methamphetamine addiction through reduction of drug-related euphoria and between-use cravings, according to an article published online November 23 in advance of print by Neuropsychopharmacology.

The American research team hypothesized that bupropion reduces the effects of methamphetamine by preventing the drug from entering brain cells. The current study is the first to examine the bupropion treatment in humans. A multi-site Phase II clinical trial led by the same research group is in progress.
“Finding new, effective ways to treat methamphetamine addiction is a key component of bringing the ongoing epidemic of abuse under control,” said Dr. Thomas F. Newton, the study’s principal investigator.

“Buproprion’s novel effect on the brain is what makes this line of research so promising,” added Newton, who also is a professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “These findings may point the way toward medications with even greater potential to be helpful.”
Of the 26 participants enrolled in the project, 20 completed the study. Participants were active methamphetamine users between ages 18 and 45 years. Researchers randomly assigned each participant to receive treatment either with a placebo or bupropion.

Each participant received a series of three intravenous doses of methamphetamine as the study began and a second, identical series of doses six days after treatment began either with placebo or bupropion.

Using a variety of subjective rating scales and questionnaires, participants reported on the subjective effects of methamphetamine at baseline and after treatment with placebo or bupropion. Subjects who took the medication reported a lesser high after treatment.

Each set of research subjects reported similarly on cravings, both at baseline and after treatment, after watching a video with actors portraying methamphetamine use. Subjects who took bupropion reported less intense craving.