Understanding Glutamate Homeostasis Hypothesis Of Addiction

It is harder for a drug addict to recover from an addiction simply because he isn’t in control. Addictive behaviours are highly dependent on several neurotransmitter reactions such as glutamate homeostasis that takes place in the body making it harder to deal with drug addiction complications such as relapse. Studies show that drug abuse disorders are dependent on glutamate levels that are also determined by the degree of cellular development. This assumption became obvious in the 1990s where biologists discovered non-synaptic extracellular glutamate has a significant influence on the release of synaptic glutamate as well as signalling through its receptors. It was also realized that lack or lower levels of glutamate in the synaptic cleft critical prevented the receptor from desensitization as well as excitotoxicity and also, created high chances of postsynaptic responsiveness and synaptic release.

Defining Glutamet Homeostasis

Glutamate Homeostasis can be defined as a range of synaptic glutamate concentrations that are highly controlled in the nucleus accumbens vital for maintaining synapses of glutamatergic. According to studies, reactions revolving around glutamate homeostasis has shown to impact directly the possible chances of drug addiction. This is because continuous use of drugs influences neuroadaptations that in turn affect reactions involving glutamate homeostasis. As a result, the synaptic plasticity gets impaired in a way that it ends up encouraging drug addiction behaviours such as relapse.

Some of the vital triggers of addictive behaviours especially for the recovering addicts are high-risk factors, cues and most importantly stress. According to studies, effects of relapse triggers varies depending on the levels of glutamate in the body. Here is a brief overview of the relationship between glutamate homeostasis and drug abuse.

Glutamate Homeostasis Hypothesis Of Addiction eradication success

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GLUTAMATE LEVELS AND ADDICTIVE BEHAVIORS

Effects of drug abuse to learning are highly determined by dopaminergic signalling. It has been realized that prolonged drug use results in increased transmission of dopamine that takes place in the ventral tegmental into the structures that exist within the brain’s mesolimbic circuitry such as prefrontal cortex, amygdala and NAc. There is an assumption that projection of glutamatergic from the Prefrontal cortex is among the major causes of drug use or relapse as a result of stress and drug cues making circuitry one of the important factors to consider when dealing with addictive behaviour.

It is also evident that dopaminergic stimulates the patient’s desire to start using drugs. This is made clear in the study that showed that corticostriatal glutamatergic neurotransmission disruptions are partly responsible for chronic drug addiction behaviours that result from several disruptions in the brain caused by glutamate homeostasis dysregulation. Concentrations of extracellular glutamate are regulated to preserve plasticity and synaptic function’s integrity. Other signs that glutamate plays a major role in determining chances of drug addiction exists in the studies that involve, Glutamate-Cystine exchange, Glutamate transporters, mGluR2/3/5, and more.

As we can see above, glutamate homeostasis directly impacts drug seeking behaviours in several ways. As a result, biologists came to a conclusion that restoration of glutamate homeostasis by focussing on its components is one of the effective ways of dealing with drug addiction behaviours, drug cues, high-risk situations as well as relapse. Other studies have also shown that continuous drug use affects the levels of extrasynaptic glutamate. However, some cases contradict the findings of the study. For example, some studies show that alcohol increases the levels of glutamate while on the other hand, cocaine that has almost the same effects as alcohol, reduces the levels.

Glutamine Supplements And Their Benefits To Addiction

It has been realized that apart from determining the chances of drug addiction, Glutamine also plays a significant role in preventing relapse and continuous use of a drug. This remains a fact since almost all studies revolving around glutamine supplements such as L-glutamine has proved that glutamine is one of the vital amino acids required by the body. It has also shown that glutamine plays an important role in brain health, physical performance and high blood sugar that are also considered as relapse triggers. Adequate glutamine in the body ensures that the body functions as expected by reducing stress, discomfort, restlessness and more. As a result, glutamine supplements are now in the market targeting drug users and those who are too cautious of their brain health. Here are some of the glutamine supplement’s proven drug addiction benefits.

• Glutamine improves focus: One of the most triggers of relapse is the lack of concentration especially when under stress. For drug addicts who are recovering this is the worst thing that can happen especially during their first stages of recovery. Being an essential neurotransmitter, glutamine ensures that you remain focused despite the situation you are in.
• Improves physical performance: Another relapse trigger common with recovering drug addicts, is the feeling of exhaustion especially when they are not using the drug. As a result, they end up using the drug with an aim of dealing with the situation. Glutamine has proven to promote physical performance as well as recovery after hard work hence eliminates the need of a drug as a booster.
• Glutamine reduces cravings for alcohol: It is quite clear that alcohol users who have decided to stop drinking can cope with the situation since are not able to control their cravings. The bad news is, cravings are natural and out of human control. If your body needs it then any chance you get, you’ll end up using it again. Glutamine ensures that this doesn’t happen by helping you to effectively control your alcohol cravings hence vital to preventing relapse.

In summary, drug abuse, addiction, drug cues and relapse are all dependent on glutamine levels, making it harder for drug addicts to survive the recovery period. According to studies, lower levels of glutamine encourages addictive behaviours such as relapse, continuous drug use and more. The most disturbing fact is that you have no control of the glutamine levels in your body unless you decide to use supplements such as L-glutamine. It occurs naturally, meaning that if you are an addict, you’ll have a hard time recovering from the problem.

If you are a drug user seeking relief or you have a friend who is an addict and you are looking for a better solution, you are highly invited to Integrated Addiction Conference. The conference will cover topics that relate to drug addiction such as preventing relapse, identifying and managing drug cues and high-risk situations and more. You’ll also get a chance to meet and interact with recovered as well as recovering drug addicts around the world to share your experiences. For more information, follow the link below.

http://regenerativepotential.com/integrativeaddictionconference/