Depot Naltrexone Mechanism of Action in Heroin Dependent Patients Using fMRI and SPECT (XRNT)

October 10, 2014 updated by: Wim van den Brink, Academisch Medisch Centrum - Universiteit van Amsterdam (AMC-UvA)

Feasibility, Mechanism of Action and Potential Side Effects of Extended Release Depot Naltrexone in Opioid Dependent Patients

The aim of this project is to study brain functions of 20 heroin addicts (compared to brain functions of 20 healthy controls) just before and during a three month extended release naltrexone treatment using functional MRI and dopamine transporter SPECT.

The following hypotheses are tested:

  • XRNT modulates the fMRI response to drug cues in predetermined brain regions.
  • The expression of striatal transporters (assessed with SPECT) will decrease after a three-month course of extended release naltrexone

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

Heroin dependence is a quintessential international health problem, with a significant prevalence. Drug free treatments, including pharmacologically supported interventions using oral naltrexone, have not been very successful, mainly due to low compliance. The recent introduction of Vivitrol®, consisting of monthly injections, may create new opportunities. Vivitrol® is an innovative treatment delivery method that blocks the rewarding effects of heroin.

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 (Anticipated)

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.
40

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 4

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

  • Netherlands
      • Amsterdam, Netherlands, P.O. Box 22660
        • Academic Medical Center

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 55 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Heroin dependent patients: have a diagnosis of opioid dependence according to DSM-IV criteria, heroin as primary drug of abuse and inhalation as primary route of administration.
  • Healthy controls: no diagnosis of substance dependence, no current psychotropic medication. Care will be taken to match controls for gender, age, smoking status, IQ and handedness.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Age below 18 or over 55
  • Medical contraindications for XRNT or MRI (Langleben 2006; Langleben, Ruparel et al. 2008). Briefly, the former include candidates with known hypersensitivity to naltrexone,PLG (poly-lactide-coglycolide), carboxymethylcellulose, or any other components of the Vivitrol® diluent, hepatic or renal disease, chronic pain syndromes, female subjects who are pregnant or lactating, or are of child bearing potential and are not using an acceptable method of birth control. MRI contraindications include chronic medical (neurological, cardiovascular, infectious, metabolic, etc) conditions that may affect the brain morphology and/or activity and indwelling foreign metallic or magnetically sensitive objects and devices, such as shrapnel, pacemakers, orthopaedic fixation devices or vascular stents
  • Presence of disorders precluding normal perception of visual and auditory stimuli, such as color blindness, deafness, severe myopia, etc.
  • Patients with a history of or current psychosis or current major depressive disorder with suicidal ideation
  • Patients who are being treated under forced treatment conditions
  • History or evidence of disorders that may affect cerebral function or circulation, such as diabetes and other metabolic disorders, encephalopathy, cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease, history of head trauma with depressed skull fracture or prolonged loss of consciousness and history of brain surgery
  • Female subjects: women who are pregnant or breast-feeding
  • Current psychotropic medication
  • Use of any prescription medications that could affect alertness or the circulatory system
  • IQ < 70
  • Naltrexone use within the past 6 months
  • Baseline aspartate aminotransferase or alanine aminotransferase more than three times the upper limit of normal
  • Patients with no intention to be opioid-free for a minimum of 7 days before starting XRNT treatment

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: Basic Science
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

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.
Experimental: Depot Naltrexone
Drug: Naltrexone
naltrexone for extended-release injectable suspension, 380 mg/vial, every 4 weeks or once a month
Other Names:
  • Vivitrol

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
Brain functions
Time Frame: 3 months
Brain functions of 20 heroin addicts just before and during a three month extended release naltrexone treatment using both functional MRI and dopamine transporter SPECT, compared to brain functions of 20 healthy controls.
3 months

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
Feasibility and potential efficacy
Time Frame: 3 months
The feasibility and potential efficacy of extended release naltrexone in a pilot sample of 20 Dutch heroin addicts in terms of (a) the percentage of patients that actually starts treatment when invited and (b) the percentage of 3 months retention.
3 months

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.
Academisch Medisch Centrum - Universiteit van Amsterdam (AMC-UvA)

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Alkermes, Inc.
ZonMw: The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development

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: Wim van den Brink, MD PhD, Academisch Medisch Centrum - Universiteit van Amsterdam (AMC-UvA)

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.
January 1, 2013

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.
October 1, 2014

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.
October 1, 2014

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).
November 10, 2011

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.
November 10, 2011

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.
November 15, 2011

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.
October 13, 2014

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.
October 10, 2014

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.
October 1, 2014

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.
  • 60-60600-97-301
  • 2011-001890-15 (EudraCT Number)

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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