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Agonist-antagonist combination to reduce the use of nicotine and other drugs

  • US 5,935,975 A
  • Filed: 04/30/1993
  • Issued: 08/10/1999
  • Est. Priority Date: 03/17/1986
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A method of treating and reducing a drug dependency without causing over-activity or under-activity in receptors for an addiction mediating drug to thereby mediate the drug dependency, said method comprising:

  • a) administering to a subject a drug or agonist of said drug which acts upon receptors mediating addiction and which causes receptors which are responsive to that drug to become activated, said drug which acts upon these receptors that mediate addiction being administered in an amount which would in the absence of a co-administered antagonist provide the pharmacologic effects achieved by the drug or agonist alone and a sustained level of the drug or agonist in the bloodstream of said subject and at least partially saturate the receptors for said drug or agonist through which the drug produces its addictive effects in said subject, and which thereby tends to satiate the need for additional doses of the drug or agonist by said subject, said drug or agonist being present in a sustained amount in the bloodstream of the subject, andb) administering to the subject an antagonist to the drug or agonist which acts upon the receptors that mediate addiction and which antagonist blocks effects of the drug or agonist that causes activation of additional receptors activated by the drug or agonist and which receptors are also sensitive to the antagonist, the antagonist being present in an amount sufficient to at least partially block the pharmacologic effects of said drug or agonist which acts upon the receptors which mediate addiction while there is a substantial systemic amount of the drug or agonist present to cause activation of these receptors, such that the administration of the drug or agonist is complemented by the antagonist by occupying a number of the receptors of the subject for the drug or agonist which is greater than the number of receptors which would be occupied by the drug or agonist alone and with a lesser number of receptors left available to respond to the drug or the agonist, thereby resulting in a reduced satisfaction caused by additional doses of the drug or agonist and effectively isolating the subject from the reinforcing addictive effects of said drug, and without causing an over-activity or an under-activity of the receptors by administration of the drug or agonist or withdrawal from the drug or agonist, and with the drug or agonist causing the receptors to be activated and the antagonist causing additional receptors to be blocked, the drug or agonist being administered by a technique other than to which said subject was previously accustomed to.

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