Andrew Chen This is Me

Education

 Web References

1. 1. www.accessmedicine.com

   www.accessmedicine.com/amed/pu - [Cached]

   Published on: 4/16/2002   Last Visited: 11/13/2002

   "We were very lucky to have well-characterized subjects for this study," says Andrew Chen, M.D., Ph.D., first author of the study and a research associate at Rockefeller. "The subjects we looked at had been previously diagnosed using very stringent criteria - a fact that supports our findings."
   
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   "Knowing how this genetic variation could potentially modulate the effects of cocaine lends weight to our results," says Chen. "But, on the other hand, our sample size was relatively small, and further studies with more patients are needed to confirm these results."
   
   Dynorphin is a member of the body's natural, or endogenous, opioid system. These molecules, by acting on their corresponding opioid receptors, are responsible for numbing pain, creating feelings of euphoria and increasing energy. They also play a role in the normal functioning of the gastrointestinal and immune systems, as well as modulate how the body deals with stress.
   
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   Chen explains, "For example, if you were to look for an association between the trait of using chopsticks and a putative polymorphism without considering that Asian people potentially could harbor this polymorphism in higher frequencies, you might end up concluding that this particular genetic variation causes people in general to use chopsticks.
   
   "Because of this and other limitations of smaller sample sizes, we are planning further studies with more patients."
   
   Cocaine addiction is a serious public health problem around the world and, in particular, the United States. According to the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, about 1.8 million Americans were chronic cocaine abusers in 1998. Like all addictions, cocaine addiction is a complex disease influenced by many genes, in addition to other behavioral, psychological, and environmental factors. However, unlike heroin and other addictive diseases, there are no current pharmaceutical-based treatment programs for cocaine addiction.