Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found that even brief workouts can reduce the risk of relapse in rats withdrawing from methamphetamine. In addition, the team found that exercise affected the neurons in a brain region that had never before been associated with meth withdrawal, suggesting a new direction for drug development.
"There was no correlation between length of workout and risk of relapse—it's the mere involvement in the activity of physical fitness, rather than how much time you can put in," said TSRI Associate Professor Chitra Mandyam, senior author of the new study, published in the journal Brain Structure and Function. "That's really important if we are going to translate this to humans."
These research results come as the number of methamphetamine users rises in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. In San Diego County, this rise has had dire consequences, with the county reporting a 55-percent increase in meth-related deaths since 2008.
"Right now, there is no FDA-approved medicine for methamphetamine addiction," Mandyam noted. "Discovering novel pathways in the brain that could be associated specifically with the withdrawal and relapse stage may lead to new avenues for therapeutics."
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