Relationship between craving and plasma leptin concentrations in patients with cocaine addiction

•Craving for cocaine is a predictor of relapse in cocaine-dependent patients.•Leptin is involved in the regulation of food intake and whole-body energy balance.•There was a relationship between plasma leptin concentrations and cocaine craving in cocaine-dependent patients. There is robust evidence indicating an overlap between neurobiological circuitry and pathways that regulate addictions and those that regulate appetite and food intake. Rodent work suggests a role of the appetitive peptide leptin in cocaine-seeking behaviours. The goal of this study was to investigate the possible relationship between plasma leptin concentrations and cocaine craving and use in patients seeking treatment for cocaine dependence. Patients (N=43) with a DSM-IV diagnosis of cocaine dependence were studied before starting detoxification (baseline; T0) and then again 14days after (T1; only those patients who abstained from cocaine during the study). Blood samples for plasma leptin concentrations were collected and cocaine craving was assessed using the Brief Cocaine Craving Questionnaire (Brief-CCQ). Food craving was also assessed using a food Visual Analogue Scale (f-VAS). Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS) was used to evaluate impulsivity. Plasma leptin concentrations at T0 significantly correlated with baseline Brief-CCQ scores (r=0.34, p