Mecamylamine for the Treatment of Patients With Depression and Alcohol Dependence

March 21, 2016 updated by: Yale University
The objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of mecamylamine (MEC, 10 mg/day) versus placebo in reducing depressive and alcohol symptoms in patients with depression and co-morbid alcohol dependence. The researchers hypothesize that MEC will significantly reduce depressive symptoms and decrease alcohol consumption compared to placebo in patients with depression and alcohol dependence who are on a stable dose of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI).

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Depression with co-morbid alcohol dependence is very prevalent and it is very costly to treat. The co occurrence of the two disorders leads to greater severity and worse long-term outcome, including suicide. Although a number of treatment strategies have been implemented for depressed patients with alcohol dependence the controversy concerning best treatment options for those patients persists.

The clinical relationship between depression and alcohol dependence suggests some common mechanism underlying both disorders. It has been hypothesized that medications that block presynaptic nAChR may be effective in the treatment of alcoholism and depression. Mecamylamine (Inversine ®) is a noncompetitive, high affinity nAChR antagonist with low selectivity for the alpha-7 receptor. Mecamylamine has never been investigated as an effective adjunct treatment for dually diagnosed patients with depression and alcohol dependence. Methods: Thirty participants with a current diagnosis of depression and alcohol dependence will be recruited for this 12-week treatment study. Fifteen participants will be randomized to mecamylamine and fifteen to placebo. Participants will be included in the study if: they meet current DSM-IV criteria for Major Depression and Alcohol Dependence and have been on a stable SSRI dose for 2 weeks. All participants will come weekly to take their medications and complete weekly assessments. Weekly assessments will consist of questioners that will assess depressive symptoms and alcohol consumption over the entire treatment period. Significance: This study is the first to evaluate the efficacy of mecamylamine as an augmenting agent for treatment of depression and alcohol dependence.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

21

Phase

  • Phase 3

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
    • Connecticut
      • West Haven, Connecticut, United States, 06516
        • VA Connecticut Healthcare System

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

Ages Eligible for Study

21 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Individuals with the DSM-IV diagnosis of Major Depression (MD) and Alcohol Dependence (AD) (using the SCID).
  2. Individuals who have been on a stable SSRI dose for 2 weeks.
  3. Smokers and non-smokers (smokers are defined as smoking more than 5 cigarettes per day).
  4. Individuals who have a history of substance dependence (other than alcohol, tobacco and cocaine) but have not met criteria for substance dependence in the past 30 days will be included (using the SCID).
  5. Women of childbearing potential must have a negative pregnancy test and use an acceptable method of contraception.
  6. Individuals who are able to participate psychologically and physically; give informed consent; complete the assessments; take the study medication; and otherwise participate in the trial. A post-consent test will be given to assess patient's capacity to give informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Females who are pregnant or lactating.
  2. Patients may not be taking medications thought to influence drinking behavior, including: acamprosate, disulfiram, naltrexone, or ondansetron.
  3. Patients with significant underlying medical conditions, such as cerebral, renal, thyroid, hepatic or cardiac pathology, which in the opinion of the physician would preclude the patient from fully cooperating or be of potential harm during the course of the study.
  4. Patients with a history of glaucoma, prostatic hypertrophy, urethral obstruction, cerebral arteriosclerosis, pyloric stenosis, or a history of hypersensitivity to mecamylamine.
  5. Patients who meet current SCID criteria for the following major Axis I diagnosis (Posttraumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD), Bipolar Disorders, Schizophrenia and Schizophrenia-type Disorders).
  6. Patients with a current unstable medical condition such as neurological, cardiovascular, endocrine, renal, liver, or thyroid pathology (LFT more than 5 times normal, abnormal BUN and creatinine, and unmanaged hypertension with BP higher than 200/120).
  7. Patients on pharmacological treatments for alcohol and/or nicotine dependence. (8) Patients taking bethanechol. (9) Patients at risk for suicide.

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: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Mecamylamine
Mecamylamine is a noncompetitive, high-affinity nAChR antagonist with low selectivity for the alpha-7 receptor. Those receiving mecamylamine started at 2.5mg once daily (second dose was placebo). The dose was increased to 5.0 mg twice daily over 3 weeks.
Drug: Mecamylamine
mecamylamine 10mg/day for 12 weeks
Placebo Comparator: Placebo
Placebo capsules were prepared by the pharmacy and were identical in size and color to the medication capsules.
Drug: Placebo
Placebo pill

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of Drinking Days
Time Frame: 25 weeks
Measured with time line follow back measures
25 weeks
Depression - Measured Using the HAMD Total Score
Time Frame: 12 weeks

The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) has proven useful for many years as a way of determining a patient's level of depression before, during, and after treatment. It should be administered by a clinician experienced in working with psychiatric patients.

Although the HAM-D form lists 21 items, the scoring is based on the first 17. It generally takes 15-20 minutes to complete the interview and score the results. The Scale ranges from 0 (normal) to >23 (Very Severe Depression)
12 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Mean Percentage of Number of Drinking Days by Smoking Status
Time Frame: 25 weeks
Two-way interaction between smoking and medication for percentage of drinking days captured by time line follow back surveys. Data are calculated as number of drinking days over the number of days in the study for smokers and nonsmokers receiving either mecamylamine or placebo.
25 weeks
Mean Percentage of Heavy Drinking Days by Smoking
Time Frame: 25 weeks
The two-way interaction between medication by smoking status to measure percentage of heavy drinking days measured by time line follow back survey. Data were calculated as number of heavy drinking days (heavy drinking days is defined as 5 drinks on a single occasion for men and 4 for women) over the number of days in the study for smokers and non smokers receiving either mecamylamine or placebo.
25 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Yale University

Collaborators

National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression

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.

Helpful Links

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

August 1, 2007

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2014

Study Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 21, 2007

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 23, 2007

First Posted (Estimate)

November 26, 2007

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

April 18, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 21, 2016

Last Verified

March 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 0705002629

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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