Pharmacological targets of main classes of drugs of abuse

As shown on the slide, some drugs with addictive potential increase the levels of dopamine in the brain.^[1] However, many drugs of abuse engage with other neurotransmitter systems, including glutamate and GABA.^[1] Whilst the importance of dopamine in addiction has been well studied, the importance of some of these other neurotransmitter systems is less elucidated and should not be underestimated.^[1]

Reference:
[1] Volkow ND, Michaelides M, Baler R. The neuroscience of drug reward and addiction. Physiol Rev 2019; 99 (4): 2115–2140.

[2] Kalant H. The pharmacology and toxicology of “ecstasy” (MDMA) and related drugs. CMAJ 2001; 165 (7): 917–928.

[3] Tan KR, Brown M, Labouèbe G, et al. Neural bases for addictive properties of benzodiazepines. Nature 2010; 463 (7282): 769–774.

[4] Silveira MM, Arnold JC, Laviolette SR, et al. Seeing through the smoke: human and animal studies of cannabis use and endocannabinoid signalling in corticolimbic networks. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2017; 76 (Pt B): 380–395.