N-Acetyl Cysteine in Pathologic Skin Picking

February 21, 2023 updated by: University of Chicago

A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of N-Acetyl Cysteine in Pathologic Skin Picking

The goal of the proposed study is to evaluate the comparative efficacy of N-acetyl cysteine to placebo in pathologic skin picking. Thirty subjects with pathologic skin picking will receive 12 weeks of double-blind treatment with N-acetyl cysteine or matching placebo. The hypothesis to be tested is that N-acetyl cysteine will be more effective than placebo in patients with pathologic skin picking. The proposed study will provide needed data on the treatment of an often disabling disorder that currently lacks a clearly effective treatment.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Pathologic skin picking involves repetitive, ritualistic, or impulsive picking of otherwise normal skin leading to tissue damage, personal distress, and impaired functioning. Although skin picking has been described in the medical literature for over one-hundred years, it remains a poorly understood psychiatric issue and often goes undiagnosed and untreated.

Picking behavior does not by itself suggest a psychiatric disorder. Pathology exists in the focus, duration and extent of the behavior, as well as the reasons for picking, associated emotions, and resulting problems. Patients with PSP report thoughts of picking or impulses to pick that are irresistible, intrusive and/or senseless. These thoughts, impulses, or behaviors also cause marked distress for patients and significantly interfere with other activities. Unlike normal picking behavior, the pathologic form of skin picking is recurrent and usually results in noticeable skin damage.

Thirty subjects with pathologic skin picking will receive 12 weeks of double-blind treatment with N-acetyl cysteine or matching placebo. The hypothesis to be tested is that N-acetyl cysteine will be more effective than placebo in patients with pathologic skin picking. The proposed study will provide needed data on the treatment of an often disabling disorder that currently lacks a clearly effective treatment.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
66

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Illinois
      • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60637
        • University of Chicago

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 64 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Men and women age 18-65;
  2. Current diagnosis of pathologic skin picking as determined by criteria proposed by Arnold et al. (2001) for at least 6 months duration

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Unstable medical illness or clinically significant abnormalities on prestudy laboratory tests or physical examination;
  2. History of seizures;
  3. Myocardial infarction within 6 months;
  4. Current pregnancy or lactation, or inadequate contraception in women of childbearing potential;
  5. Need for medication other than NAC with possible psychotropic effects or unfavorable interactions with NAC;
  6. Clinically significant suicidality (score or 3 or 4 on item 3 of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale);
  7. Lifetime history of DSM-IV bipolar disorder type I, dementia, or schizophrenia or any other DSM-IV psychotic disorder;
  8. Current or recent (past 3 months) DSM-IV substance abuse or dependence;
  9. Illegal substance use within 2 weeks of study initiation;
  10. Initiation of pharmacotherapy, psychotherapy, or behavior therapy from a mental health professional within 3 months prior to study baseline for the treatment of pathologic skin picking;
  11. Previous treatment with N-acetyl cysteine;
  12. Treatment with investigational medication or depot neuroleptics within 3 months, with fluoxetine within 6 weeks, or with other psychotropics within 2 weeks prior to study baseline;
  13. Asthma (given possible worsening of asthma due to NAC)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Active Comparator: N-Acetyl Cysteine
N-Acetyl Cysteine - 600mg tablets by mouth (dosing 1200mg - 3000mg qd)
Drug: N-Acetyl Cysteine
Week 0 (Visit 1) - Week 3 (V2): 1200mg/day (600mg po qam and 600mg po qpm) Week 3 (V2) - Week 6 (V3): 2400mg/day (1200mg po qam and 1200mg po qpm) Week 6 (V4) - Week 12 (V5): 3000mg/day (1200mg po qam and 1800mg po qpm)
Other Names:
  • NAC
Placebo Comparator: Placebo
Matching placebo taken daily
Drug: Placebo
Matching placebo capsules taken in same amount of pills as the active medication.
Other Names:
  • Sugar pill

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS) Modified for PSP (NE-YBOCS)
Time Frame: Once every three weeks during the 12 week study for each subject

The entire study for an individual subject will last 12 weeks. Every 3 weeks the subject will take the YBOCS for the duration of the 12 weeks. At each of these visits the outcome will be assessed.

The minimum score is 0 and the maximum score is 40, with a higher score being more severe skin picking. There are two sub-scales: one for urges (ranges from 0 to 20) and one for behaviors (ranges from 0 to 20). The total of the scores of each of the sub-scales is the total YBOCS score. That is what will be reported.
Once every three weeks during the 12 week study for each subject

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Skin Picking Self Assessment Scale (SP-SAS)
Time Frame: Once every three weeks for the duration of the 12 week study for each subject

The entire study for an individual subject will last 12 weeks. Every 3 weeks the subject will take the YBOCS for the duration of the 12 weeks. At each of these visits the outcome will be assessed.

The minimum score is 0 and the maximum score is 48 with higher scores meaning more severe skin picking. The total of all of the questions equals the total reported SP-SAS score.
Once every three weeks for the duration of the 12 week study for each subject

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of Chicago

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Jon E Grant, MD, JD, MPH, University of Chicago

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
September 1, 2012

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
July 1, 2015

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
July 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
February 3, 2010

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
February 4, 2010

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
February 5, 2010

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
February 23, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
February 21, 2023

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
February 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 2010PSPNAC

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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