# Validation of Neuropeptide FF Receptors as Targets for Methamphetamine Use Disorder

> **NIH NIH U18** · RESEARCH TRIANGLE INSTITUTE · 2020 · $266,775

## Abstract

Abstract
 Methamphetamine use disorder is a major public health problem afflicting millions of people. Currently,
there are no FDA approved medications and clinical trials aiming to repurpose existing medications for other
therapeutic indications have yielded limited efficacy for the treatment of methamphetamine addiction. Given
the recent rising trend of methamphetamine abuse, largely as a result of restrictions of opioid prescriptions,
there is an urgent need to discover novel targets to facilitate the discovery of new medications for this
condition. Literature evidence suggests that the Neuropeptide FF (NPFF) system, a well-established opioid
modulatory system, plays a role in alteration of methamphetamine's pharmacological effects including
locomotor sensitization and expression of conditioned place preference. These findings corroborate with
extensive interactions between central dopaminergic and opioidergic systems. However, studies on roles
of the NPFF system in modulating methamphetamine's effects have been limited due to unavailability of
suitable tool compounds, particularly ligands with good NPFFR receptor subtype selectivity. Recently, our
group and others have discovered new NPFFR ligands, including selective and nonselective agonists and
antagonists, which can serve as important tool compounds to study the roles of the NPFF system in
methamphetamine's signaling pathways. In this application, we propose to employ these newly developed
tool compounds to validate the NPFFRs as potential targets for therapeutic development for
methamphetamine use disorder.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10106447
- **Project number:** 1U18DA052414-01
- **Recipient organization:** RESEARCH TRIANGLE INSTITUTE
- **Principal Investigator:** Thuy Nguyen
- **Activity code:** U18 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $266,775
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-30 → 2022-09-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10106447

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10106447, Validation of Neuropeptide FF Receptors as Targets for Methamphetamine Use Disorder (1U18DA052414-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10106447. Licensed CC0.

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