N-Acetylcysteine As A Treatment For Addiction: Jennifer E. Murray, Jérôme Lacoste and David Belin

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N-Acetylcysteine as a Treatment for Addiction

Jennifer E. Murray1,2,*, Jrme Lacoste3 and David Belin2,4
1Department
2INSERM
of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge,

European Associated Laboratory, Psychobiology of Compulsive Habits,
3Unit de Recherche Clinique Intersectorielle,
Centre Hospitalier Henri-Laborit, Poitiers,
4INSERM U1084 - LNEC & Universit de Poitiers,
AVENIR Team Psychobiology of Compulsive Disorders, Poitiers,
1,2UK
2,3,4France
1. Introduction
Drug addiction is a chronic relapsing disorder characterized by compulsive use despite
negative consequences and relapses even after years of abstinence (Leshner, 1997). Criteria
put forth by the American Psychiatric Association (2000) for diagnosing drug addiction
require at least three of the following symptoms associated with drug use: tolerance;
withdrawal; a loss of control over drug intake; unsuccessful attempts to reduce intake; a
significant amount of time spent acquiring, using, or recovering from the substance; reduced
interest in social or work activities; and continued use despite awareness of adverse physical
and psychological consequences (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). In the United
States, 22.5 million people, or 8.9% of the population meets the criteria for substance
dependence or abuse (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2010),
and in Europe, drug, and especially cocaine, use has been increasing over the last ten years
in the general population, with a more pronounced trend in young individuals (EMCDDA,
2009), suggesting that cocaine addiction may continue to spread in western countries.
Worldwide estimates suggest more than 8% of the population have an alcohol use disorder
and more than 2% have an illicit drug use disorder (World Health Organization, 2010).
The prevalence of drug use despite obvious health and financial consequences is a testament
to the tenacity of addiction as a brain disease affecting cognition, motivation and memory
(Leshner, 1997). At the psychobiological level, addiction has been hypothesised to reflect the
development of loss of executive control over aberrant incentive habits (Belin et al., 2009a,
Belin & Everitt, 2010), resulting from drug-induced neuroplasticity processes in vulnerable
subjects. These plasticity processes have been suggested to stem from the impact of drug
action on the mesolimbic dopamine system, through which drug use can induce a host of
changes in the brain resulting in significant neural reorganization (see Lscher & Malenka,
2011; Russo et al., 2010). Much of this reorganization is due to long term potentiation, or
strengthening, of excitatory synapses as a result of drug use. As recently reviewed, the
*
Corresponding Author
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Addictions From Pathophysiology to Treatment
dopamine signals from neurons originating in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) targeting the
nucleus accumbens (NAc) in the ventral striatum modulate glutamate synaptic plasticity and
are believed to be critically involved in the pathophysiology of addiction (Chen et al., 2010).
In animal models using passive drug exposure, these neurons show an N-methyl-Daspartate (NMDA) receptor-dependent strengthening of excitatory synapses (long term
potentiation) 24 hrs following an acute experimenter-administered injection of cocaine,
amphetamine, nicotine, ethanol, and morphine (Saal et al., 2003; Ungless et al., 2001).
Interestingly, this strengthening was not found with the non-abused psychoactive drugs,
fluoxetine or carbamazepine, suggesting the role this plasticity may play in determining
whether a drug is abused or not.
Although of interest, these data capture neither the volitional aspect of drug use nor the
instrumental nature of drug seeking and taking, thereby greatly limiting their translation to
the pathophysiology of addiction (Belin et al., 2009b, Belin & Dalley, 2012). Therefore, in
preclinical models, a more valid approach to the human drug administration situation is the
self-administration paradigm in which akin to the human experience an animal, rather
than the experimenter, voluntarily administers the drug through instrumental conditioning
(see later).
Following two weeks of cocaine self-administration, long term potentiation of glutamate
function in DAergic VTA neurons is maintained even after 90 days of abstinence an effect
not found in a yoked, non-contingent control group receiving the same cocaine exposure
(Chen et al., 2008). Similarly, measurements in the core of the NAc (NAcC) where VTA
projections are now known to co-release glutamate along with DA (Stuber et al., 2010)
following at least two weeks of cocaine self-administration, showed long-lasting resistance
to the induction of long-term synaptic depression compared to yoked controls or controls
lever pressing for food reinforcement. Finally, cocaine self-administration followed by either
a 3-week abstinence period or 3 weeks of extinction training induced a state of long-term
potentiation of glutamate synapses that was resistant to further potentiation (Moussawi et
al., 2009). The resistance to further potentiation has been attributed to the prolonged
expression of AMPA receptors that had been trafficked to the cell membranes during the
drug exposure (Chen et al., 2010) and is indicative of long-lasting neural reorganization
brought about by drug abuse. Combined, these data indicate that volitional administration
of cocaine results in prolonged changes in NMDA receptor-dependent synaptic plasticity
within the nucleus accumbens (Martin et al., 2006).
This long-term strengthening of glutamatergic synapses within the brain reward circuitry as
a result of chronic voluntary drug use is also related to dysregulation of glutamate
homeostasis (for a review see Kalivas, 2009). Glutamate homeostasis refers to the balance
between synaptic glutamate levels and extracellular, extrasynaptic glutamate levels that
regulate stable neurotransmission (see Figure 1). If synaptic glutamate release is the key
component of glutamate-induced excitatory synaptic transmission, extrasynaptic glutamate
is vital for the negative feedback of glutamatergic transmission. This negative feedback is
necessary for modulating and inhibiting further excitatory stimulation. Such feedback is
supported by activation of extrasynaptically-localized Group II metabotropic glutamate
autoreceptors (mGluR2/3 receptors) which results in a regulated reduction of vesicular
neurotransmitter release whereby synaptic glutamate concentration is greatly decreased
(Dietrich et al, 2002; Manzoni et al., 1997).
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Extrasynaptic glutamate availability is primarily provided by the cystine/glutamate

exchanger antiporter (system xc-) found on brain glial cell membranes (Baker et al., 2002).
System xc- transports the extracellular cystine dimer into the astrocytes and intracellular
glutamate out of the astrocytes and into the extracellular space in a 1:1 ratio, thereby
enhancing extrasynaptic glutamate levels (Bannai, 1986). Glutamate availability inside the
astrocytes is provided by the primary glial glutamate transporter, GLT-1 (Haugeto et al.,
1996), and these two systems work in concert to maintain homeostatic glutamate levels.
Seven days of cocaine exposure (experimenter administered 15-30 mg/kg daily) followed by
three weeks of abstinence, or self-administration (0.25 mg/kg in 2-hr sessions until
responding stabilized to <10% variation) followed by extinction (until active lever pressing
declined to at least 10% of self-administration levels) decrease basal levels of extracellular
glutamate by ~50% within the NAcC. Extracellular glutamate levels are then elevated again
into a range between about 160-600% of the withdrawal baseline following cocaine reexposure (e.g., Baker et al., 2003a; Baker et al., 2003b; McFarland et al., 2003; Pierce et al.,
1996). This dysregulation of glutamate homeostasis as a result of drug withdrawal has been
suggested to be caused by an overall downregulation of system xc- and is in fact mimicked
by blocking system xc- in the NAc (Baker et al., 2003b). Indeed, following chronic cocaine or
nicotine self-administration, there is reduced NAc expression of both xCT, the light chain
and catalytic subunit of the system xc- antiporter heterodimers, and GLT-1 (Knackstedt et
al., 2009; 2010a), indicating these mechanisms are involved in the dysregulation of glutamate
homeostasis and may impact the development and trajectory of addiction.
Fig. 1. Actions of N-acetylcysteine on the cystine/glutamate exchanger (system xc-).

Glutamate is packaged into presynaptic vesicles by vesicular glutamate transporters (vGluTs)
[1]. Following release of glutamate into the synaptic cleft, glutamate binds to postsynaptic
localized ionotropic receptors (iGluRs) such as the -amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4
propionic acid (AMPA), N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), and kainate receptors [2]. Excitatory
amino acid transporters (EAATs) clear extracellular glutamate by taking it back up into cells.
These transporters are localized on the presynaptic terminal [3] protecting extrasynaptic
receptors from synaptic glutamate and synaptic receptors from extrasynaptic glutamate, and
allow for re-packaging glutamate into vesicles. These transporters are also localized on
astrocytes [4]. Once in the glial cell, glutamate can be transported into the extrasynaptic
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environment by the cystine/glutamate exchanger (system xc-) in a 1:1 ratio [5]. Administration
of NAC provides extra synaptic cysteine that is oxidized extracellularly into the cystine [6]
required to enhance activation of the cystine/glutamate exchanger [7]. The enhanced xcactivation results in increased glutamate concentration in the extracellular space [8].
Intracellular cystine is rapidly reduced to cysteine where it is combined with intracellular
glutamate (and glycine) in the synthesis of glutathione (GSH) which is then released from the
astrocyte [9]. Extrasynaptic glutamate binds to and activates mGluR2/3 receptors [10] which
negatively regulate adenylyl cyclase [11] thereby suppressing presynaptic glutamate release
[12] and reducing postsynaptic iGluR activation [13].
2. Mechanisms of N-acetylcysteine action

The cysteine prodrug and antioxidant precursor, N-acetylcysteine (NAC), has been in use in
humans for many years, primarily as a treatment for acetaminophen/paracetamol overdose
(Prescott et al., 1977; Scalley & Conner, 1978) and more recently as a mucolytic agent
effective in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (Decramer & Janssens, 2010; Kory et al.,
1968) and cystic fibrosis (Dauletbaev et al., 2009; Stamm & Docter, 1965). Further, an
evaluation of the potential therapeutic use of NAC in a variety of psychiatric disorders has
been recently reviewed (Dean et al., 2011). The aforementioned nature of the
neurophysiological changes induced by drug use has also indicated a potential use for NAC
treatment in addictions, prompting the initiation of thorough research into NAC as a
treatment for addiction in both preclincal models of addiction and drug addicts
In preclinical models of addiction, NAC appears to regulate the systems involved in
glutamate homeostasis in the brain. Following 7 days of cocaine exposure and 21
subsequent days of withdrawal, decreased basal extracellular glutamate levels in the NAc
are recovered following an IP injection of NAC in rats (Baker et al., 2003a). Notably,
inhibition of system xc- prevented the NAC-induced recovery of extracellular glutamate
levels in this region, implicating the xc- system in the neurobiological mechanisms whereby
NAC normalises cocaine-induced extracellular glutamate dysregulation (Baker et al., 2003a).
Thus, NAC may induce a recovery of the downregulated xCT and GLT-1 function
(Knackstedt et al., 2009; 2010a). Indeed, the recovery of an altered GLT-1 function allows for
increased transport of glutamate into the astrocyte while the recovery of altered system xcfunction by xCT recovery allows for increased export of glutamate back into the
extrasynaptic space (see Figure 1). The resulting increase in extracellular glutamate then
facilitates activation of extrasynaptic mGluR2/3 autoreceptors, ultimately reducing evoked
synaptic glutamate release (Moran et al., 2005). This decrease in synaptic glutamate release
as a downstream result of NAC administration is the mechanism by which NAC also
restores the capacity to induce further long-term potentiation, since blockade of mGluR2/3
receptors prevented this restoration (Moussawi et al., 2009).
NAC is also a known precursor of the endogenous antioxidant, glutathione (GSH), the
synthesis of which depends upon the rate-limiting activity of the xc- system. GSH is
primarily produced within astrocytes using glutamate and cystine as substrates to generate
-glutamylcysteine, which is then combined with glycine to create GSH (see Dringen &
Hirrlinger, 2003). GSH is released from astrocytes into the extracellular space, where it is
broken down by -glutamyltranspeptidase into glutamate and a cysteine-glycine dipeptide
that is further hydrolyzed into the individual peptides. This reaction is the mechanism by
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which astrocytes provide the precursors necessary for neuronal GSH production (Dringen &
Hirrlinger, 2003). In addition to protecting brain cells from the oxidative stress, GSH has
been shown to enhance responsivity of NMDA receptors to glutamatergic stimulation (see
Janky et al., 1999), suggesting some direct modulation of glutamatergic signalling as a
result of NAC administration. The role of GSH in addiction has yet to be determined, and
thus far, the effects of NAC as a pharmacotherapy for drug dependence appear to be
primarily mediated via its actions on system xc- and GLT-1 (Knackstedt et al., 2009;
Knackstedt et al., 2010a).
3. N-acetylcysteine in animal models of self-administration, reinstatement,

and relapse
The study of the addictive properties of drugs in animals is largely based on variations of
the self-administration procedure developed in rats by Weeks (1962; see Belin & Dalley
2012; Panlilio & Goldberg, 2007). Although now conducted with many species, in its
simplest and most common form, rats (or mice) are prepared with indwelling intravenous
catheters that exit through a backmount to be attached to a tether hanging within a
conditioning chamber. Tubing connecting the catheter to a syringe outside the chamber runs
through the tether and provides the route by which drugs can be administered directly into
the blood stream (see Figure 2).
Fig. 2. Operant drug self-administration chamber and procedure. Operant chambers are
typically equipped with two retractable levers (assigned as either active or inactive) with
a cue light above each. When a rat presses the active lever under an FR1 schedule, the
resulting drug infusion is accompanied by the onset of the cue light associated with the
active lever.
When in the self-administration chamber, two levers are typically available an active and
an inactive lever. Under the most basic Fixed Ratio 1 (FR1) schedule of reinforcement, also
called continuous reinforcement, a single press on the active lever results in a drug infusion
often paired with a non-drug stimulus, such as a brief presentation of a light. The drug
delivery reinforces the behavior, making it more likely the rat will press the active lever
again (cf. Hall, 2002). Presses on the inactive lever have no consequence and are used as an
index of general activity. This self-administration procedure is particularly useful in
determining the abuse liability of psychoactive substances (for a review see OConnor et al.,
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2011). The ability to self administer drugs for short periods of time daily (1-2 hrs per session)
results in a stable drug intake over time, a so-called titration process that is suggested to
reflect individual control of intake responding to optimal dosing (Wilson et al., 1971;
Zimmer et al., 2011) around which blood levels fluctuate in the course of the selfadministration session.
Pharmacological challenges during ongoing self-administration, following extinction or
abstinence, or before relapse or reinstatement of self-administration (see later) have been
useful in identifying potential targets for the development of pharmacotherapies for various
forms of addictions (e.g., Schindler et al., 2011; Steensland et al., 2007). Such an approach is
based on the common psychodynamic view of the addiction process of which the stages,
namely development, maintenance, and relapse/reinstatement, are modelled in Figure 3.
Fig. 3. Stages of the development and maintenance of addiction in humans and animal
models. Stages of the addiction cycle that have been targeted with NAC treatment are
regular drug use before the development of addiction as defined by the DSM-IV [1], thereby
aiming at preventing the transition from controlled to compulsive drug use, the addiction
stage (in animal models, when intake has escalated or become habitual) [2], following
behavioral extinction of drug seeking predominately seen in animal models human
addicts rarely engage in extinction [3], at the time drug or a drug-associated cue is reintroduced causing reinstatement [4], following short- or long-term abstinence from drug
more typical for human addicts and increasingly modelled in animals [5], and at the return
to the drug-seeking/taking context, resulting in relapse [4].
A reasonable time point for targeting addiction is when the individual is still regularly
engaged in drug use with the intended outcome of reducing intake and eventually stopping
use altogether. Therefore, it is of interest to assess potential pharmacotherapies during the selfadministration phase. In a standard self-administration task, that is thought to model the stage
in which humans engage in regular use but are not necessarily addicted (Figure 3, Stage 1),
rats that had access to cocaine for 2 hrs under an FR1 schedule of reinforcement, and
administered 60 mg/kg NAC before each daily training session displayed no differential
intake as compared with vehicle-treated controls (Amen et al., 2011; Madayag et al., 2007).
The efficacy of NAC on ongoing cocaine intake changes however, with increasing access to
cocaine. Indeed, with long (e.g., 6 hrs) rather than short (e.g., 2 hrs) daily access to cocaine
self-administration, rats no longer titrate intake, but instead tend to increase, or escalate,
their intake across days (cf. Ahmed & Koob, 1998). This escalation of drug intake over time,
associated with dysregulation of neural networks governing reward (for a review see Koob
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& Kreek, 2007), has been suggested to reflect the loss of control over intake that characterises
human drug addicts (Figure 3, Stage 2). In an experiment assessing the effects of NAC on
cocaine escalation (Madayag et al., 2007), rats initially acquired cocaine (0.5 mg/kg) selfadministration in 2-hr sessions under an FR1 schedule of reinforcement until intake
stabilized (<10% variation across 3 sessions). They were then shifted to 6-hr daily sessions
for 11 days in which they were able to self-administer a higher dose of cocaine (1.0 mg/kg)
and subsequently given either 60 mg/kg NAC or vehicle pre-treatment. Whereas saline-pretreated rats displayed typical escalation of their cocaine intake across sessions, NACpretreated rats maintained a stable drug intake across days (Madayag et al., 2007). In a
similar study, daily pretreatment with the higher dose of 90 mg/kg NAC appeared to
reduce cocaine intake across the 12 sessions of long-access cocaine self-administration
compared to saline pretreatment (Kau et al., 2008). Combined, the findings that NAC
impacts escalation without affecting typical short-access drug self-administration suggests
that loss of control over drug intake may be better reflective of dysregulated glutamate
homeostasis.
3.1 Treatment during reinstatement of drug seeking
The ultimate goal of any addiction therapy is to achieve and maintain drug abstinence.
This therapeutic goal is especially challenging due to the strong associations formed
between the interoceptive drug experience and surrounding cues. Re-experiencing a drug
or drug cue following a successful quit attempt can evoke and enhance drug craving (e.g.,
Niaura et al., 1988; OBrien et al., 1992), thus increasing the likelihood of reinstatement of
drug use, often resulting in relapse. As such, finding effective techniques that target the
motivational impact of a lapse in drug use (drug-induced reinstatement) or drug-related
paraphernalia (cue-induced reinstatement) is of high therapeutic value for maintaining
drug abstinence.
From an experimental standpoint, when operant behavior no longer results in the delivery
of the reinforcing outcome, extinction occurs, so that instrumental performance declines
(Figure 3, Stage 3). Extinction of a behavior is a new learning process that exists alongside
the old, previously learned, association (for a review see Bouton, 2002). This new learning is
largely dependent on continued absence of the primary reinforcer while the manipulanda
(i.e., levers) are still available to press. In humans, these sort of explicit extinction sessions
are generally only provided within the context of cue-exposure therapy which aims at
presenting inpatients with drug use paraphernalia in the absence of the drug (see Monti &
MacKillop, 2007; Siegel & Ramos, 2002). Reinstatement of the previously extinguished
behavior can therefore be evoked by presentation of the reinforcer (i.e., drug-induced
reinstatement) or a conditioned stimulus (CS) associated with the reinforcer that had not
presented during the extinction phase (i.e., cue-induced reinstatement; Figure 3, Stage 4; de
Wit & Stewart, 1981).
When an addict lapses, or uses once, following abstinence, he is at a much higher risk for
re-engaging in regular use. Attenuating the effects of this drug-induced reinstatement may
help prevent a lapse in drug abstinence from turning into a full-blown relapse of addiction
(e.g., Shadel et al., 2011; Witkiewitz & Masyn, 2008). In rats, cocaine exposure following
extinction of self-administration is associated with a glutamate release from prefrontal
projections into the NAcC (McFarland et al., 2003), and this release may provide the
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mechanism that triggers reinstatement of drug seeking. Acute treatment with NAC has been
shown to attenuate drug-induced reinstatement. In some of these experiments, rats were
trained to self-administer cocaine in 2-hr or 6-hr daily sessions. During the subsequent
extinction phase, instrumental responses were reinforced only with contingent presentations
of the drug-associated light, and no cocaine was infused, so lever pressing progressively
declined. For the drug-induced reinstatement test, rats were injected with a priming dose of
cocaine, this pharmacological challenge resulted in a marked increased in the previously
extinguished instrumental response, i.e., lever pressing. Pretreatment with 30, 60, or 600
mg/kg NAC before cocaine re-exposure prevented reinstatement of cocaine-seeking
behavior (Baker et al., 2003a; Baker et al., 2003b; Kau et al., 2008; Moran et al., 2005).
Concurrent blockade of system xc- using (S)-4-carboxyphenylglycine (CPG) during the
reinstatement test blocked the reinstatement-attenuating effects of NAC (Kau et al., 2008),
thereby suggesting that NAC effects on cocaine-induced reinstatement are mediated
through system xc-. Additionally, as measured by in vivo microdialysis during the
reinstatement test, NAC administration restored the reduced extracellular glutamate levels
that resulted from cocaine self-administration and withdrawal (Baker et al., 2003b). Further,
concurrent blockade of mGluR2/3 autoreceptors also prevented the attenuating effects of
NAC on cocaine-induced reinstatement (Moran et al., 2005) demonstrating that the effect of
NAC restoration of extracellular glutamate on reinstatement may depend upon activation of
the mGluR2/3 autoreceptors.
The effects of NAC on drug-induced reinstatement have also been shown when NAC is
administered prior to, but not explicitly during, the reinstatement test. In one such
experiment, rats were trained to self-administer cocaine under short-access conditions and
then underwent extinction followed by cocaine-primed reinstatement (Amen et al., 2011).
Following the first test in which cocaine seeking was reinstated, rats were treated with 60
mg/kg NAC for 7 days. The day following the seventh NAC treatment, rats were subjected
to a second cocaine-primed reinstatement test. Rats that had received NAC treatment
showed significantly reduced cocaine seeking compared to the rats that had received saline
treatment during those 7 days (Amen et al., 2011). Although daily treatment with 60 mg/kg
NAC before 2-hr cocaine self-administration sessions (see above) had no effect on amount of
cocaine taken or subsequent extinction (without NAC pretreatment), cocaine-primed
reinstatement was significantly reduced, even though it had been 2-3 weeks since last NAC
treatment (Madayag et al., 2007). Similarly, 90 mg/kg NAC pretreatment throughout longaccess cocaine self-administration resulted in attenuated cocaine-primed reinstatement that
was reversed by inhibition of system xc- following an extinction phase without NAC (Kau et
al., 2008). These effects are indicative of the long-lasting protection of glutamate homeostasis
as a result of NAC treatment. Indeed, concurrent microdialysis in the NAc immediately
prior to the reinstatement test showed that there were lower extracellular basal glutamate
levels in rats that had been pretreated with saline during the self-administration stage than
in those that had been pretreated with NAC (Madayag et al., 2007). Once cocaine had been
administered to induce reinstatement, the saline-pretreated group reached the level of
extracellular glutamate that was shown at baseline by the NAC-pretreated group. These
findings suggest that NAC administration during self-administration provided protection
against the withdrawal-induced downregulation of extracellular glutamate in the NAc and
subsequent cocaine-induced reinstatement.
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3.2 Treatment during extinction and reinstatement

The effect of chronic NAC treatment during both extinction and subsequent reinstatement
tests has also been evaluated (Figure 3, Stages 3 and 4). In one such study (Reichel et al.,
2011), rats were trained to self-administer cocaine (50 g/infusion) under an FR1 schedule
until they reached >10 infusions in two hours for twelve consecutive sessions. During the
following twelve sessions, lever presses had no programmed consequences (i.e., extinction),
and rats were given daily injections of 0, 60 or 100 mg/kg NAC. There was no effect of the
lower 60 mg/kg dose of NAC on extinction responding. However, there was a significant
enhancement of extinction (i.e., less active lever pressing) when rats were treated daily with
100 mg/kg NAC (Moussawi et al., 2011; Reichel et al., 2011). This effect was also found
during extinction of heroin self-administration for which daily administration of 100 mg/kg
NAC resulted in enhanced extinction rate (Zhou & Kalivas, 2008). Although NAC treatment
was ineffective when applied during acquisition of self-administration, it enhanced
extinction learning.
In each of these studies, two tests of reinstatement were then conducted: cue-induced
reinstatement and cue+drug- or drug-induced reinstatement. Human addicts are
particularly sensitive to cues that had previously been associated with drug use, and
exposure to these cues following drug abstinence can reinstate drug seeking and taking
behavior, resulting in relapse (see OBrien et al., 1992; Taylor et al., 2009). Similarly, rats are
also quite sensitive to the effects of re-presentation of these drug-associated CSs. As such,
the impact of NAC treatment on cue-induced reinstatement of instrumental responding has
recently begun to be assessed. For the cocaine self-administration group treated with the
lower, 60 mg/kg, dose of NAC, there was a significant reduction in cue-induced
reinstatement compared to saline controls, but no effect on cue+drug-induced reinstatement
(Reichel et al., 2011). However, when NAC (100 mg/kg) was administered during extinction
following either cocaine or heroin self administration, there was a significant reduction in
both cue- and cue+drug- or drug-induced reinstatement. These results suggest that,
compared to a conditioned stimulus, a higher treatment dose was necessary to disrupt the
ability of an unconditioned drug stimulus+drug-associated CS compound to reinstate drugtaking behavior (Moussawi et al., 2011; Reichel et al., 2011; Zhou & Kalivas, 2008). Notably,
these effects on reinstatement lasted from two weeks (Moussawi et al., 2011; Reichel et al.,
2011) to 40 days (Zhou & Kalivas, 2008) following the last 100 mg/kg NAC treatment,
indicating a long-term restoration of glutamate homeostasis in the NAcC brought about by
the re-regulation induced by chronic NAC exposure (Moussawi et al., 2011). At the
neurophysiological level, rats trained to self-administer cocaine that received saline (rather
than NAC) during extinction showed reduced extrasynaptic glutamate levels in the NAcC
compared to saline-yoked controls. In rats that received NAC during extinction, there was
full recovery of the extrasynaptic glutamate levels two weeks following the last NAC
injection a time period corresponding to the behavioral effect on cue- and cue+druginduced reinstatement (Moussawi et al., 2011). Furthermore, administration of the
mGluR2/3 antagonist, LY341495, into the NAcC prevented the attenuating effects of NAC
on cue- and cue+drug-induced reinstatement of cocaine-seeking, again indicating the
importance of presynaptic autoreceptors in maintaining glutamate homeostasis (Moussawi
et al., 2011).
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3.3 Treatment during abstinence

A key concern with the translational potential of the extinction-reinstatement model of drug
dependence is that human users are not typically subjected to extinction of responding
during presentation of drug-related cues unless they are patients in an explicit cue-exposure
therapy session (cf. Monti & MacKillop, 2007). Rather, addicts undergo abstinence a period
in which they either voluntarily (i.e., independently, or by checking into a rehabilitation
clinic) or forcibly (e.g., incarceration) abstain from drug use outside the drug-taking
environment (Figure 3, Stage 5; Reichel & Bevins, 2009). Following the abstinence period, a
person returns home where the associative strength of all the drug-associated cues is still
fully intact, and no behavior has been extinguished, and relapse of the addictive behavior
often resumes.
A rat model of forced abstinence operationally uses the same drug self-administration
protocols as the extinction-reinstatement model, but rather than undergoing an extinction
phase in which responding diminishes with repeated non-reinforced lever pressing, the
animal is typically left in its home cage for a specified period of time (e.g., 2 weeks) where it
can undergo a treatment protocol before returning to the drug-associated conditioning
chamber. Notably, extinction and abstinence following cocaine self-administration produce
different patterns of protein expression in the NAc (Knackstedt et al., 2010b), warranting
further investigation into the efficacy of potential pharmacotherapies in each model of
addiction.
The abstinence model has recently been used to assess the efficacy of NAC treatment
following cocaine self-administration (Reichel et al., 2011). Rats were trained to selfadminister cocaine under an FR1 schedule until they reached >10 infusions in two hours for
twelve consecutive sessions. During the subsequent two-week abstinence period, rats were
given daily injections of 60 or 100 mg/kg NAC or saline. They were then tested for relapse
to cocaine seeking by returning them to the self-administration environment and recording
non-reinforced lever presses. Treatment with the lower, 60 mg/kg, dose of NAC during
abstinence had no effect on relapse compared to saline, however, treatment with the higher
100 mg/kg dose of NAC during abstinence significantly reduced cocaine-seeking during the
relapse test (Reichel et al, 2011). During subsequent tests in which the drug-paired cue, and
then the drug+cue, was presented, 100 mg/kg NAC treatment during abstinence
maintained a significant effect on drug seeking. Finally, following a second phase of
abstinence in which no NAC was administered, there was still a significant attenuation of
drug seeking when rats were presented with the drug+cue in the self-administration
chamber, again indicative of the long-term re-regulation of glutamate homeostasis provided
by NAC administration.
3.4 Treatment during habitual drug seeking
Regular daily drug use is not limited to the taking of the drug. Rather, addicted individuals
can invest countless hours foraging for their next high. This foraging takes a person
through multiple exposures to stimuli that are predictive of the impending drug experience.
As such, not only can these drug-associated CSs reinstate drug-seeking behavior when
presented following behavioral extinction but they can also serve as powerful conditioned
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reinforcers that drive and maintain continued drug foraging over long periods of time when
presented contingently. This foraging can continue to persist even after the explicit drugtaking behavior has been extinguished (Olmstead et al., 2001; Zapata et al., 2010), indicating
a habitization of the drug-seeking behavior which may be a key characteristic in the
transition from casual drug use to addiction (e.g., OBrien et al., 1998, Everitt & Robbins
2005, Belin et al., 2009a).
Cocaine seeking (see Chapter 2) as opposed to mere cocaine taking, or self-administration,
has been operationalized in primates (Goldberg, 1973) and then in rats (Arroyo et al., 1998)
and humans (Panlilio et al., 2005) in the so-called second-order schedule of reinforcement. In
this specialized model of self-administration, drug seeking is separated from the
unconditioned effects of the drug. Cues associated with drug reinforcement function as
conditioned reinforcers that maintain persistent, habitual, seeking responses across
protracted periods of time without primary drug reinforcement (Everitt & Robbins, 2000;
Schindler et al., 2002).
In this procedure, rats are initially trained to self-administer drug under the FR1 schedule of
reinforcement with a single lever press resulting in a drug infusion associated contingently
with a 20-second cue light presentation. Following stabilization of responding, the response
requirement is shifted across days to gradually move the behavior of the rat to what is
known as a second-order schedule of reinforcement. There are several ways of increasing
the response requirement (cf. Economidou et al., 2011; Vanderschuren et al., 2005, Belin &
Everitt 2008), either by introducing ratio / ratio increments or fixed interval schedules with
increasing interval durations across days. In the experiment in which NAC effect was
measured on early and well-established cue-controlled cocaine seeking (Murray et al., 2012),
rats were moved up through the following schedules: FR3; FR5(FR2:S); FR10(FR2:S);
FR10(FR4:S); FR10(FR6:S); FR10(FR10:S); FI15(FR10:S). Under each of these schedules of
cocaine reinforcement, completion of each unit schedule (given within the parentheses)
resulted in a 1-second cue light presentation; cocaine infusions were delivered only upon
completion of the first unit schedule according to the schedule outside the parentheses.
Therefore, during the final second-order training schedule [i.e., FI15(FR10:S)], cocaine and
the 20-second cue light were given on completion of the first FR10:S unit after the Fixed
Interval 15-minute period had timed out. In these conditions instrumental responding is no
longer under the control of the goal, from which it is now temporally distal, but instead
becomes highly dependent upon contingent presentations of conditioned CSs, acting as
conditioned reinforcers (cf. Arroyo et al., 1998). As shown in Figure 4, following acquisition
of the second-order schedule, removal of CSs (i.e., 1-second light presentations provided
under a FR10 schedule of reinforcement are removed, returning the animal to a strict FI15
schedule of reinforcement) results in a decline in lever pressing across sessions in the first
15-minute interval that is reversed when the unit schedule is returned (i.e., 1-second light
presentations under FR10). By the time behavior has reached this stage of training, drug
seeking during the first 15-min drug-free interval is maintained at very high rates and is
thought to reflect cue-controlled habitual cocaine seeking which, at the neurobiological
level, has been hypothesised to result of a gradual recruitment of dorsolateral
striatal dopamine circuitry (Belin & Everitt, 2008; Ito et al., 2002; Murray et al., in press;
Vanderschuren et al., 2005).
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Fig. 4. Control of cocaine seeking by contingent presentations of conditioned reinforcers.

Three consecutive days of conditioned reinforcer (1-s cocaine-associated light presentations)
omission (CSO 1-3) are compared with performance on the session before conditioned
reinforcer omission (Pre) and performance on the session when the reinforcer is returned
(Post). * indicates significant difference from Pre, p<.05, **p<.01. Adapted from Arroyo et al
(1998) with permission from Springer.
Assessment of drug seeking before actual drug reinforcement can be conducted at both an
early stage of acquisition and at a later, well-established stage. To assess drug seeking in the
early stage when the behavior had only ever been reinforced under an FR1 schedule of
reinforcement by the unconditioned drug stimulus with concurrent CS presentations, a
switch in the contingency was instituted for a 15-min test session. This testing procedure
allowed for measurement of drug seeking now reinforced by 1-sec cue light presentations.
Cocaine was delivered only on the first lever press following the 15-min interval, and each
test was immediately followed by an FR1 training session. The effects of acute NAC
treatment on cocaine seeking during the early-stage tests are shown in Figure 5A. Drug
seeking before the experience of unconditioned cocaine effects was reduced with 60 and 90
mg/kg NAC treatment.
After increasing the response requirements and at least 15 sessions of FI15(FR10:S) training,
so that cocaine seeking maintained by regular contingent presentations of the drugassociated conditioned reinforcer was well-established, conditions known to be associated
with a shift in the locus of control over behavior from the ventral to the dorsolateral
striatum (Vanderschuren et al., 2005; Belin & Everitt, 2008), the effect of NAC pre-treatment
on cocaine seeking was measured once again (Figure 5B). At this stage, drug seeking was
more sensitive to NAC treatment, with 30, 60, and 90 mg/kg disrupting the conditioned
reinforcing effects of the cocaine-associated stimulus. The results of this experiment
demonstrate that acute NAC treatment dose-dependently reduced cocaine seeking
maintained by conditioned reinforcers both at an early stage of acquisition when drug
seeking is considered to be goal-directed and following extensive training on the secondorder schedule, when drug seeking is considered to be habitual (Murray et al., 2012). These
367
findings demonstrate that NAC pretreatment may be an aid to establish abstinence by

reducing cocaine seeking in individuals that actively seek cocaine on a daily basis, rather
than only during relapse following an extinction or abstinence period.
Fig. 5. Effects of NAC on cocaine seeking. Panel A depicts active (top) and inactive (bottom)
lever presses during acute NAC treatment in the 15-min cocaine seeking test with
contingent conditioned reinforcer presentations (FR1) at an early stage of selfadministration. Panel B depicts active (top) and inactive (bottom) lever presses during acute
NAC treatment in the first 15-min cocaine seeking interval with contingent conditioned
reinforcer presentations (FR10) during the late stage of cocaine self-administration. For both
panels, * indicates significant difference from 0 mg/kg NAC, p<.05. Adapted from Murray
et al. (2012) with permission from Wiley.
4. N-acetylcysteine in humans: From acetaminophen overdose antidote to

addictive and impulsive-compulsive spectrum disorders
NAC, as an antioxidant and gluthatione precursor, has been used for more than 30 years
in intravenous or oral protocols as an acetaminophen poisoning antidote. Within this
framework, NAC has been shown to have low rates of adverse reactions which
nevertheless include nausea, vomiting, as well as cutaneous and systemic anaphylactoid
reactions. ECG abnormalities, status epilepticus and fatal reaction due to NAC overdose
are rare, the latter having been observed only at doses 10 times greater than the
recommended antidote dose (for review see Sandilands & Bateman, 2009). Atopy and
asthma are major risk factors for developing adverse and anaphylactoid reactions to NAC
(Schmidt & Dalhoff, 2001).
Thanks to its antioxidant effect, NAC has dose-dependent protective effects against contrastinduced nephrotoxicity (Briguori et al., 2011). NAC can also be used as both a chelating
agent for methylmercury (for review see Dodd et al., 2008) and a mucolytic and antiinflammatory agent, with controversial efficacy in patients with exacerbations of chronic
368
obstructive pulmonary disease (Decramer et al., 2005). Unlike orally-administered

gluthatione and L-cysteine, NAC successfully crosses the blood-brain barrier, and permits
restoration of glial and neuronal gluthatione levels, playing a role in the oxidative
homeostasis in the brain, protecting neurons against oxidative stress. In addition, NAC
treatment reduces levels of some pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-1, and TNF-)
shown to be implicated in several psychiatric disorders, notably in depressive and bipolar
disorders as well as in schizophrenia. NAC has been used to target the prefrontal
glutamatergic dysfunction implicated in schizophrenia and impulsive-compulsive behaviors
(for reviews see Dean et al., 2011; Sansone & Sansone, 2011). One of the first uses of NAC in
psychiatry was a case-report of the amelioration of self-injurious behaviors and craving in a
female patient suffering from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and borderline personality
disorder (Pittenger et al., 2005). There are to date very few rigorous studies assessing the
efficacy of NAC in the treatment of addiction and impulsive-compulsive spectrum disorders
(including behavioral addictions, impulse-control disorders and obsessive-compulsive and
related disorders). Those available, despite limited statistical evidence (randomized studies
with small size samples, non-randomized cohorts, or case reports), have provided consistent
results, in that NAC was always reported to reduce drug use, craving or withdrawal
symptoms during the treatment period, sometimes even resulting in a persistent effect on
relapse after the end of the trials (Olive et al., 2012).
4.1 NAC and cocaine dependence
NAC treatment for addiction has been primarily studied in cocaine dependent patients,
alongside the aforementioned publication of preclinical studies initiated by Kalivas team
(Baker et al., 2003a; Baker et al., 2003b). In one such study, the safety and tolerability of NAC
have been assessed in 13 otherwise-healthy, non-treatment-seeking, cocaine-dependent
patients with a mean age of 37.1 7.6. During the first hospitalization of the experiment,
patients received either four treatments of NAC (600 mg per treatment; 2400 mg total) or
placebo spaced 12 h apart. In a cross-over design, the opposite treatment (i.e., NAC or
placebo) was given during a hospitalization during the second week. NAC treatment
resulted in a significant reduction of withdrawal symptoms (assessed with the Cocaine
Selective Severity Assessment, CSSA, a measure of cocaine abstinence signs and symptoms;
Kampman et al., 1998) while placebo had no effect. The effect of NAC treatment was not
restricted to withdrawal symptoms since it was also accompanied by an overall reduction in
self-reported craving (five items, including desire to use, level of craving and other similar
constructs, rated on ten-point Likert scales). In this study NAC was well tolerated during
the treatment periods, with neither significant adverse effects nor with effects on primary
biological parameters (renal and liver functions, complete blood count) between groups. In
addition, at completion of the two-week follow-up period patients displayed a marked
decrease both in days of cocaine use from 41% 7 (in the ninety days before study) to 27%
7, and average daily dollar expenditure for cocaine from $30.31 3.44 (in the ninety days
before study) to $8.77 2.52, suggesting that a brief NAC treatment, perhaps through
promotion of reduced withdrawal symptoms and subjective craving, may have a prolonged
efficacy even weeks after the end of the treatment (LaRowe et al., 2006).
In addition to this clinical evaluation, at the end of the treatment period, the same patients
were exposed to a cue-reactivity procedure to assess cocaine desire. During two sessions,
369
patients were semi-randomly presented cocaine-related, neutral, and affective (pleasant and
unpleasant) slides. Cocaine-related slides produced greater skin conductance than either
neutral or pleasant slides. NAC treatment did not modify physiological reactions to any of
the slides viewed (i.e., skin conductance and heart rate measures). Cocaine slides evoked
higher ratings of craving for, desire to use, and interest in, cocaine, as well as longer viewing
times relative to neutral slides. NAC treatment resulted in lower motivation to use cocaine
in comparison with placebo when viewing cocaine slides, characterized by a reduced desire
to use, a reduced interest in cocaine, and less time viewing cocaine slides. Craving for
cocaine was also reported to be lower in NAC- than in placebo-treated participants even
though this difference did not reach statistical significance (LaRowe et al., 2007).
In an independent laboratory study in 6 cocaine-dependent patients, with a mean age of 41.8
7.4 and a mean age of drug-use onset of 18.3 4.0, subjective high, rush, and craving for
cocaine were assessed using a computerized version of a ten-point Likert scale. The patient
had to use a joystick and move a tab along a horizontal bar with the anchors Least Ever
and Most Ever at each extreme end, then push a button at the desired rating after viewing
either a neutral or a cocaine video and after a 20 mg/kg IV cocaine infusion. This assessment
was conducted the day before and after 3 days of NAC treatment (1200 mg or 2400 mg
daily, TID). NAC treatment significantly reduced subjective craving induced by cocaine
infusion, as measured before and after treatment. By contrast, NAC affected none of the
subjective measures induced by cocaine videos, nor did it affect subjective feelings of high
and rush induced by the cocaine infusion (Amen et al., 2011).
Finally, in an open-label study, 23 cocaine-dependent patients, with a mean age of 40 1.4
and a mean lifetime of cocaine use of 13.3 1.5 years, were treated for 4 weeks with three
different doses of NAC (1200, 2400 or 3600 mg/day). In a subjective evaluation, the three
doses of NAC decreased the mean number of days of use (from 8.3 1.3 to 1.1 1.4) and the
dollar amount spent (from $1292.8 508.6 to $52.2 25.9) across the 28 days of treatment.
This was in agreement with an objective evaluation revealing that urine drug screens were
negative in two-thirds of the sample during treatment (without comparison with baseline
due to a lack of significant sampling during this period). Cocaine abstinence symptoms
(assessed with the CSSA) decreased during the treatment period. Retention in treatment was
significantly better in the 2400 mg and the 3600 mg groups than in the 1200 mg group (88.9%
and 83% respectively, vs. 37.5%). Adverse events were mild to moderate, including
headache, pruritus and elevated blood pressure, but did not significantly differ among the
treatment groups (Mardikian et al., 2007).
These results indicate that administration of NAC (at daily doses of 2400 and 3600 mg) can
be an effective treatment for relapse prevention in cocaine-dependent patients, due to its
ability to decrease withdrawal symptoms and craving severity. The severity of the cocaine
withdrawal symptomatology at treatment entry is negatively correlated with the treatment
outcome and the duration of continuous abstinence from cocaine (Kampman et al., 2002).
Furthermore, subjective and objective feelings of craving, even during experimental cueinduced and cocaine-infusion procedures, which are predictors of early drug-use outcomes
and rapid treatment attrition (Rohsenow et al., 2007), are reduced by NAC, a treatment that
results in few mild-to-moderate side effects. Further studies with high-level evidence (i.e.,
randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, long-term studies) must be conducted in
cocaine-dependent patients to determine the effective dosing ranges, the optimal duration of
370
treatment, and the indications of NAC as a treatment for cocaine withdrawal or as an antiaddiction drug (used as an adjunct to psychotherapy to help patients in maintain
abstinence).
4.2 NAC and marijuana dependence
In an open-label study, 24 cannabis-dependent subjects aged 18-21 were treated for 4 weeks
with 1200 mg NAC twice daily (Gray et al., 2010). During the trial, the medication adherence
was good (82.6% of scheduled doses), and adverse events were mild-to-moderate none
leading to discontinuation of the treatment. In a subjective evaluation at the fourth week of
treatment, NAC significantly decreased the number of days per week cannabis was used,
and showed a tendency to reduce the quantity of self-reported marijuana used per day (15.9
2.4 vs. 11.9 2.1 potency-adjusted hits). In an objective evaluation, the cannabinoid
content of urine samples was not affected, but craving for marijuana, measured by the
Marijuana Craving Questionnaire, was significantly reduced. These results show the
potential promise for NAC treatment of cannabis abuse and dependence, especially
provided that no effective treatments are available for this particularly vulnerable
population. A double-blind placebo-controlled study evaluating the efficacy of NAC (1200
mg twice daily for 8 weeks) combined with Contingency Management on marijuana use in a
younger population (ages 13-21) is currently recruiting (NCT01005810).
4.3 NAC and methamphetamine dependence
In a small double-blind placebo-controlled study (Grant et al., 2010), 31 methamphetaminedependent patients, with a mean age of 36.8 7.12 and a mean age of onset of drug use of
24.3, were treated during 8 weeks with NAC (increased dose from 600 mg daily to 2400 mg
daily every 2 weeks) and naltrexone (increased dose from 50 mg daily to 200 mg daily every
2 weeks) or placebo. In a subjective evaluation, at the end of the study, NAC+naltrexone
treatment decreased the mean number of days of use every two weeks from 8.1 4.9 to 1.9
1.8 days in comparison with placebo (from 6.3 4.6 to 2.3 3.5 days). In an objective
evaluation given at the end of the study however, positive urine drug screens did not differ
between groups (46.2% vs. 35.3%). Concerning methamphetamine craving (assessed with
the Penn Craving Scale: a self-report measure of frequency, intensity, and duration of
craving, ability to resist taking drug, and an overall rating of craving for
methamphetamine), NAC+naltrexone treatment did not result in significant improvement
since there was no difference between the two groups in their decrease in total score at the
end of the study (-43.6% vs. -37.7% for treated and placebo patients, respectively). Rates of
adverse events (including nausea and lethargy) did not significantly differ between groups
(57.1% vs. 41.2%). This preliminary 8-week study suggested that NAC+naltrexone treatment
effectively reduced reported frequency of methamphetamine use even without affecting
overall craving for the drug.
4.4 NAC and nicotine dependence
In a double-blind placebo-controlled study, 26 nicotine-dependent patients, with a mean age
of 50, who had been smoking for an average of 33 years, were treated for 4 weeks with NAC
(2400 mg daily) or placebo (Knackstedt et al., 2009). NAC treatment did not affect the
objective measures related to nicotine dependence including carbon monoxide levels, or
371
craving for cigarettes (assesssed with the Questionnaire for Smoking Urges-Brief), nor did it
affect withdrawal symptoms (assessed with the Minnesota Nicotine Withdrawal Scale). In a
subjective evaluation, there was a trend towards an overall reduction in cigarette use during
the study (main effect of time), but no group effect, indicating a lack of efficacy of that dose
of NAC on tobacco use. In a separate double-blind placebo-controlled study, 22 students at
least twenty years old smoking for an average of 6 years, received NAC (1800 mg twice
daily) or placebo for 4 days (Schmaal et al., 2011). None of the subjects reported smoking
during the 4 days of treatment. At the end of the experiment, NAC did not affect craving for
cigarettes (assessed with the Questionnaire for Smoking Urges-Brief) or withdrawal
symptoms (assessed with the Minnesota Nicotine Withdrawal Scale). However, compared
to placebo, NAC reduced the subjective rewarding effect of a cigarette smoked at the end of
the experiment, suggesting a potential preventative impact of the treatment on relapse.
4.5 NAC and alcohol dependence
NAC has just been evaluated for an 8-week treatment of alcohol dependence, but the results
are not yet published (NCT00568087). NAC has only been fully assessed in humans for its
antioxidant properties, with some results in combination with corticosteroids and enteral
nutrition in the treatment of severe acute alcoholic hepatitis (for review see Reep and
Soloway, 2011), while a recent study shows minimal benefits of the combination therapy by
prednisolone plus NAC in terms of survival among patients with this indication (NguyenKhac et al., 2011). Finally, preliminary findings in rats suggest NAC may also be helpful in
the prevention of alcohol-induced heart disease (Seiva et al., 2009). Clearly, further work
regarding the potential of NAC treatment for alcohol dependence needs to be conducted.
4.6 NAC and opiates dependence
To our knowledge, NAC has not yet been evaluated in the treatment of opiate dependence
in humans.
4.7 NAC and pathological gambling
NAC treatment has been shown to reduce pathological gambling. In an open-label study
(Grant et al., 2007), 27 subjects who engaged in pathological gambling, with a mean age of
50.8 12.1 and a mean age of onset of problem gambling of 37.1 12.8, were treated for 8
weeks with NAC (increased dose from 600 mg daily to 1800 mg daily every 2 weeks).
Twenty-three patients (85.2%) completed the study for which the primary outcome was the
effect of NAC treatment on the pathological gambling score, an adaptation of the YaleBrown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (PG-YBOCS), measuring the severity and change in
severity of pathological gambling symptoms (Pallanti et al., 2005). Of those that completed
the study, 16 patients (69.6%) were responders on the PG-YBOCS, showing a 30% or greater
reduction in total score at end-point compared with baseline. Ten patients reported total
abstinence from gambling. The total score on the PG-YBOCS decreased during the treatment
phase from 20.3 4.1 to 11.8 9.8. On the overall severity and change in clinical symptoms
(assessed by the Clinical Global Impression-Improvement scale, a 7 point scale that requires
the clinician to assess how much the patient's illness has improved or worsened relative to a
baseline state at the beginning of the intervention), 59.3% of patients were much or very
much improved at the end of the study. Urge, thought, and self-reported gambling
372
symptoms were improved after NAC treatment. In a second phase, 13 of the patients who
completed the open-label study and were considered responders were included in a doubleblind placebo-controlled study with NAC treatment at the highest dose or placebo for
another 6 weeks. At the end of the 6 weeks, 83.3% of active treatment patients vs. 28.6% of
placebo patients still met responder criteria on the PG-YBOCS.
4.8 NAC and impulsive-compulsive spectrum disorders
Finally, NAC has been assessed in several impulsive-compulsive spectrum disorders other
than addictions, including trichotillomania, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and nailbiting in patients suffering from bipolar disorder. In a double-blind placebo-controlled
study (Grant et al., 2009), 50 patients with trichotillomania (compulsive hair-pulling), with a
mean age of 34.3 12.1 and a mean age of onset of 12.1 5.0 years, were treated for 12 weeks
with NAC (1200 mg daily for 6 weeks, then 2400 mg daily) or placebo. Eighty-eight percent
of all patients completed the study regardless the group assignment. In a subjective
evaluation, NAC-treated patients, as compared to those treated with placebo, displayed
significant reductions in the severity of trichotillomania symptoms according to the patient
self-rating (using the Massachusetts General Hospital Hair Pulling Scale) and the physicianassessment (with the Psychiatric Institute Trichotillomania Scale), associated with a
significant improvement of the severity and the resistance and control dimensions of the
disorder. On the severity and change in global clinical symptoms (assessed by the CGIimprovement scale), 56% of NAC patients were much or very much improved at the end
of the study compared with 16% of those taking placebo. In a report series, NAC used as an
add-on therapy in the treatment of bipolar disorder was associated with a dramatic
reduction in nail-biting behavior in three cases (Berk et al., 2009). NAC efficacy on this
behavior may be due either to an anti-impulsive action of NAC or to an effect on anxiety or
stress. In a case report, NAC has been used in conjunction with fluvoxamine (a serotoninreuptake inhibitor agent) treatment in a refractory OCD patient. During a total period of 12
weeks, including 7 weeks at the total daily dose of 3000 mg, Y-BOCS scores decreased
dramatically and the patient was able to resist her compulsive symptoms during the
treatment period (Lafleur et al., 2006).
These findings attest to the promise NAC treatment has for treating the behavioral
symptoms of impulsive/compulsive disorders. Three double-blind placebo-controlled
studies are currently being carried out, demonstrating the recent interest for NAC in the
treatment of impulsive-compulsive spectrum disorders. The first one is evaluating the
efficacy of NAC (3000 mg twice daily for 12 weeks) in adult Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitorrefractory obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression (NCT00539513). The second one is
evaluating the efficacy of NAC (1600 mg twice daily for 2 weeks then 2600 mg capsules
twice daily for the remaining 10 weeks) for the treatment of pediatric obsessive-compulsive
disorder (NCT01172275), and the third one is assessing the efficacy of NAC (from 1200 mg
daily to 3000 mg daily, during 12 weeks) in pathologic skin picking (repetitive, ritualistic, or
impulsive picking of otherwise normal skin leading to tissue damage, personal distress, and
impaired functioning; NCT01063348). Moreover, NAC is currently being evaluated in a
double-blind placebo-controlled study for children with Tourette syndrome (childhoodonset neuropsychiatric disorder characterised by multiple and chronic motor and vocal tics;
NCT01172288).
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5. Conclusion
In laboratory studies, NAC has been shown to prevent escalation of cocaine use during long
access (6h/day) to the drug (an animal model of loss of control over drug intake, a hallmark
feature of addiction) without affecting drug use during short access (1h and 2h/day). NAC
also prevents relapse behaviors, reducing drug-associated cues-, cocaine-, and heroinpriming-induced reinstatement after extinction and abstinence protocols (animal models of
relapse, when a drug-addicted individual is exposed to different triggers of drug craving
and relapse after a period of abstinence). Finally, NAC reduces cocaine seeking, when drug
seeking has become habitual (an animal model of the daily behavior of drug foraging, as it
can be seen in individuals who spend great deal of time in activities necessary to obtain and
prepare the substance, rather than only during relapse following an extinction or abstinence
period). These preclinical data resonate well with the human literature which shows overall
promising results from clinical trials on drug addiction and impulsive-compulsive spectrum
disorders. More specifically, the efficacy of NAC treatment for cocaine addiction appears
relevant, with improvement of withdrawal symptoms, attenuation of subjective and
objective craving for the drug (during laboratory experiments, NAC attenuates
environmental and cocaine-induced urges to use), and persistent reduction in cocaine use
even after the end of the treatment. Results in cannabis addiction are less marked but also
hold promise, notably due to the absence of available treatment for addicted young adults,
who are particularly vulnerable to the development of other, stronger, addictions and
psychotic comorbid disorders (Gray et al., 2010). Promising but mitigated results in
methamphetamine and nicotine addiction should make us remember that the pathology of
addiction may be quite different across drugs of abuse and that a single pharmacotherapy
may not be sufficient for all drugs (cf. Badiani et al., 2011). Even if the small sample size of
these studies may have precluded the identification of statistically significant differences
between groups, negative results may also be attributable to the implication of other
biological and psychological factors in methamphetamine and nicotine dependence and
craving. In particular, learned contextual associations and context-induced relapse
(Crombag et al., 2008) may not be affected by NAC treatment. Indeed, interesting
preliminary results in other behavioral disorders including pathological gambling and
impulsive-compulsive disorders, which appear alleviated with NAC treatment, may suggest
that NAC is not necessarily working to treat these behavioral disorders at the same level of
the drug of abuse.
At the neurobiological level this suggests that NAC-induced re-regulation of the
homeostatic extrasynaptic glutamate levels in the brain may be affecting the behavioral
component of seeking whether that be drug, a poker game, or the anxiety-alleviation
provided by compulsive hair pulling. Preclinical studies using models in rats that
specifically address the development of habitual drug seeking behavior, compulsive seeking
and taking behavior, or addiction-like behavior (Belin et al., 2011) may help to elucidate the
main psychological and associated neural substrate whereby NAC exerts its action and so in
the different addictions, as it has been shown, for example, that opiate and stimulants
addiction are behaviorally and neurobiologically distinct (for review see Badiani et al.,
2011). Studies evaluating the efficacy of NAC on neuropsychological processes that
contribute to the development of drug addiction, (e.g., decision-making or impulsivity) may
also prove useful. In humans, clinical studies should take interest in assessing efficacy of
NAC as a cognitive enhancer (Brady et al., 2011), as it has been shown that improvement of
374
inhibitory control, attentional and decision-making processes may help individuals perform
better in face of stressful and complex environmental situations.
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12

N-Acetylcysteine as a Treatment for Addiction

of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge,

Addictions From Pathophysiology to Treatment

N-Acetylcysteine as a Treatment for Addiction

Extrasynaptic glutamate availability is primarily provided by the cystine/glutamate

Fig. 1. Actions of N-acetylcysteine on the cystine/glutamate exchanger (system xc-).

Addictions From Pathophysiology to Treatment

2. Mechanisms of N-acetylcysteine action

N-Acetylcysteine as a Treatment for Addiction

3. N-acetylcysteine in animal models of self-administration, reinstatement,

Addictions From Pathophysiology to Treatment

N-Acetylcysteine as a Treatment for Addiction

Addictions From Pathophysiology to Treatment

N-Acetylcysteine as a Treatment for Addiction

3.2 Treatment during extinction and reinstatement

Addictions From Pathophysiology to Treatment

3.3 Treatment during abstinence

N-Acetylcysteine as a Treatment for Addiction

Addictions From Pathophysiology to Treatment

Fig. 4. Control of cocaine seeking by contingent presentations of conditioned reinforcers.

N-Acetylcysteine as a Treatment for Addiction

findings demonstrate that NAC pretreatment may be an aid to establish abstinence by

4. N-acetylcysteine in humans: From acetaminophen overdose antidote to

Addictions From Pathophysiology to Treatment

obstructive pulmonary disease (Decramer et al., 2005). Unlike orally-administered

N-Acetylcysteine as a Treatment for Addiction

Addictions From Pathophysiology to Treatment

N-Acetylcysteine as a Treatment for Addiction

Addictions From Pathophysiology to Treatment

N-Acetylcysteine as a Treatment for Addiction

Addictions From Pathophysiology to Treatment

N-Acetylcysteine as a Treatment for Addiction

addiction vulnerability. In: Endophenotypes of Psychiatric and Neurodegenerative

Addictions From Pathophysiology to Treatment

N-Acetylcysteine as a Treatment for Addiction

Lafleur DL, Pittenger C, Kelmendi B, Gardner T, Wasylink S, Malison RT, Sanacora G,

Addictions From Pathophysiology to Treatment

B, Dupas JL; AAH-NAC Study Group (2011) Glucocorticoids plus N-acetylcysteine

N-Acetylcysteine as a Treatment for Addiction

Addictions From Pathophysiology to Treatment

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