Researchers in Texas are binding cocaine to deactivated cholera proteins to create a vaccine that fools the body into attacking cocaine molecules, thus making the drug ineffective, the Associated Press reported Jan. 1.

Researchers Tom and Therese Kosten of the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston recently requested Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval to begin a multi-institutional trial of the vaccine, as early as this spring.

Clinical trials are currently being conducted.

"For people who have a desire to stop using, the vaccine should be very useful," said Tom Kosten. "At some point, most users will give in to temptation and relapse, but those for whom the vaccine is effective won't get high and will lose interest."

Preliminary research indicates that the body's immune system not only attacks the cocaine-cholera combination but also recognizes and attacks other cocaine molecules. By binding to the cocaine, antibodies prevent the drug from reaching the brain and causing intoxication.

"Scientists have spent the last few decades figuring out reward pathways in the brain and how drugs like cocaine hijack the system," said Baylor researcher David Eagleman. "It turns out those pathways are difficult to rewire once they've seen the drug. But the vaccine just circumvents all that."