Hair analyzes to assess cocaine use could become an innovative tool for monitoring the clinical response of drug addicted patients.
This is explained by a study born from the collaboration between the Istituto Superiore di Sanità and the Novella Fronda Foundation just published on Biology, which shows how the methods used to detect substance abuse on a hair matrix can be used for monitoring the clinical response of patients with Cocaine Use Disorder (DUC) undergoing an innovative treatment of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. (rTMS).
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In fact, in recent years, numerous clinical studies have shown that rTMS, a non-invasive brain stimulation method, stimulating a frontal area of the brain (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex – DLPFC) is effective in reducing craving and symptoms of loss of control related to addiction.
Clinically, the methods used routinely to monitor drug use – urine toxicology screening, patient or family member reports – are influenced by many factors and offer a very narrow time window.
For this reason, the research group used a validated method for the determination of drugs of abuse on a hair matrix to verify the concordance between the clinical evaluation of drug use and the results on the hair matrix.
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In this study, hair samples were collected from 9 DUC patients at different stages from the start of treatment using rTMS. In four patients with CocUD, prolonged abstinence was confirmed, thanks to the concordance between the results of the analysis of the hair matrix and those from the patient report and urinary screening. In the other cases it was possible to confirm the reduction in cocaine consumption as reported by the patient and by the toxicological screening on urine. In two cases it was possible to observe that, in the face of an improvement in the pattern of cocaine use, the subjects presented an increase in the consumption of THC (cannabis).
“This study, although conducted on a small number of patients – commented the researchers of the National Center for Addiction and Doping of the ISS – allowed us to demonstrate that the determination of drugs of abuse on the hair matrix can be routinely applied in a clinical context. to evaluate the effectiveness of an innovative treatment, such as rTMS, for cocaine addiction “.
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