Researchers at the University of Irvine (California) recently discovered that the use of a hormone showed the curbing of cocaine cravings. Apparently, the breakthrough was found by UCI pharmacological researchers while studying melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH), which “works with dopamine in the brain’s ‘pleasure center’ to create an addictive response to cocaine use. Upon further study, the researchers found that blocking MCH caused brain cells to significantly crave cocaine less.

To date, research has been limited to mice due to safety concerns, but once more data is collected that shows testing for humans to be safe, the human testing phase of research will commence. UCI said that this study was one of the first of its kind. The study is to be published later this year in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,” one of the most esteemed scientific journals in the US.