Behavioral and substance addictions share more similarities than differences
in etiological, phenomenological, and clinical presentations. Interactions between the
variables of predisposing (i.e., neurobiological and psychological constitutions) and
moderating (i.e., coping style and cognitive and attentional biases), as well as variables
of mediating (i.e., affective and cognitive reactions to situational triggers) in
combination with reduced inhibitory control may accelerate or reduce the developing
of specific versions of model for addictive behaviors. Around 50% individuals’
variability in becoming addicted to substance (nicotine, alcohol, or illicit drugs) is
attributable to genetic factors. Genetic variations to addiction susceptibility and
environmental factors such as stress or social defeat also alter brain-reward
mechanisms impart vulnerability to addiction. The emergence and maintenance of
addiction might be the consequences of chronic exposure to drugs remodeling the
chromatin structure including FosB, Cdk5, G9a, and BDNF around genes. Only few
drugs for substance use disorders (SUDs) are approved by the FDA, But QSP
approaches provide valuable strategies for designing novel prevention or treatment
towards drug addiction. Conjugate vaccines and monoclonal antibodies treatments
generating high-affinity anti-drug IgG antibodies neutralizing drug doses in the serum
might lead the immunotherapy for SUDs in the future.
Keywords: Addiction, Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), Brain reward system (BRS), Conjugate vaccine, Genome-wide association study (GWAS), Monoclonal antibodies, Nicotine, Opioids Use Disorder (OUD), Quantitative systems pharmacology (QSP).