Behavioral Effects of Drugs Inpatient 44 Neurobehavioral Mechanisms of Opioid Choice (BED(In)(44))

March 26, 2026 updated by: Joshua A. Lile, Ph.D.

Behavioral Effects of Drugs Inpatient 44: Neurobehavioral Mechanisms of Opioid Choice

The objective of this protocol is to use probabilistic choice tasks to determine the impact of withdrawal and drug cues on decision-making in individuals with opioid use disorder and physical opioid dependence.

Study Overview

Status

Status

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

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.

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.
2

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.
  • Early Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

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

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Kentucky
      • Lexington, Kentucky, United States, 40506
        • University of Kentucky

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

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Individuals must meet criteria for moderate/severe opioid use disorder, report past month opioid misuse, and be physically dependent on short-acting opioids (e.g., heroin, hydromorphone, fentanyl), as evidenced by either urine sample positive for recent opioid use during each visit or if opioid negative, displaying frank withdrawal during screening.
  • History of intravenous opioid use.
  • Baseline O2 saturation of 95% or greater.
  • Between the ages of 18-50 years.
  • Female subjects must be using an effective form of birth control (e.g., birth control pills, surgical sterilization, IUD, cervical cap with a spermicide, or abstinence). Urine pregnancy tests will be conducted prior to sessions to ensure that female subjects do not participate if pregnant.
  • Able to speak and read English.
  • Otherwise healthy.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • History of, or current, clinically significant physical disease (e.g., respiratory disease [asthma, COPD, sleep apnea], impaired cardiovascular functioning, seizure disorder or CNS tumors) or current or past history of psychiatric disorder that would limit compliance in the studies, other than substance use disorder.
  • Meet diagnostic criteria for psychoactive substance use disorder for substances other than opioids (OUD subjects only) or nicotine/caffeine that would require detoxification (i.e., alcohol, benzodiazepines or barbiturates). Negative urine/breath samples for these substances, and the absence of withdrawal, will be required during screening.
  • Contraindications for MRI scanning (e.g., pacemaker, metal implants, claustrophobia, or any other implanted medical device).
  • Vision or hearing problems that would preclude completion of experimental tasks.
  • Poor venous access.
  • Regular use of other medications, with the exception of hormone-based contraceptives for female subjects, daily multivitamins or short-term antibiotic prescriptions.
  • At risk for respiratory complications and have predictors of difficult bag mask ventilation (e.g., dentures, very full beard), in case emergency respiratory intervention is needed.
  • Seeking treatment for SUD or currently taking buprenorphine or methadone as the primary opioid of use.

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: Probabilistic Choice Task
Subjects with opioid use disorder complete a probabilistic concurrent choice task under opioid maintained and withdrawn conditions. Three sessions include a money-vs-money task and three sessions include a drug-vs-money task. Monetary reward value is $0.25 or $4.00. Task option visual cues for the money-vs-money versions are colored envelopes or opioid-associated and matched neutral cues. Drug is an active dose of remifentanil.
Behavioral: Drug Cue
Individualized drug cues paired with choice options reinforced by $0.25
Behavioral: Money
Two money values will be tested ($0.25 and $4.00)
Drug: Withdrawal
Participants will be maintained on an opioid agonist. Placebo will be substituted to produce mild-to-moderate withdrawal.
Drug: Remifentanil
IV remifentanil will be made available as one of the choice options in some sessions.

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
Task Choices
Time Frame: Tasks will take approximately 45-60 minutes to complete. Participants will complete 6 sessions in which a choice task will be administered.
Proportion of high probability choices. Subjects can choose between two options, one of which is rewarded at a higher probability than the other at a ratio of 6:1. The number of trials varied, so a proportion of total trials is reported.
Tasks will take approximately 45-60 minutes to complete. Participants will complete 6 sessions in which a choice task will be administered.

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.
Joshua A. Lile, Ph.D.

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.
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

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 (Actual)

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.
March 1, 2023

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.
March 28, 2025

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.
March 28, 2025

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).
March 8, 2024

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.
March 8, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

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.
March 15, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

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.
March 30, 2026

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.
March 26, 2026

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.
March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

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.
  • 81971
  • R01DA047368 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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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