NAC for cocaine craving; proof of concept study

    Researchers from the Medical College of Wisconsin supplemented NAC to cocaine addicts at a dose of 1200mg to 2400mg a day for 4 days. In just this short time NAC produced a significant reduction in craving by restoring brain health to these subjects, In a lead-in study feeding cocaine addicted rats NAC inhibited their abuse of cocaine and the effect persisted in the short time studied. Plasticity refers to the adaptability of the brain. Cocaine causes a bad type of plasticity and NAC reverses this change. The proof-of-concept clinical experiment that will lead to larger clinical trials is published in the March 2011 issue of the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.