Cocaine Use Creates Feedback

Previous studies have stated that ``the lack of data describing potential mechanisms of action
that alter reward responses to drugs . You can," Rubén García-Cabrarizo, a neuroscientist at
University College Cork, APC Microbiome Ireland, wrote in an email to The Scientist. García-
Cabrarizo was not involved in his research.

Gut bacteria can sense neurotransmitters in the animals they inhabit. Knowing that cocaine
eventually blocks the transporters that allow the body to metabolize and destroy these
neurotransmitters, the team found that exposure to the drug in mice caused nerve damage in
the gut. They tested whether it affected transmitter levels and altered the microbiota. This was
shown in the team's previous work to sense host neurotransmitters and increase virulence
accordingly. The team found that levels of norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter important for
locomotion and behavior, were significantly higher in the intestines of cocaine-treated mice than
in cocaine-unexposed mice.