Cocaine Withdrawal and Pharmacotherapy Response (Carvedilol)

March 31, 2020 updated by: Yale University
A total of 120 male and female opioid dependent cocaine users will participate in this study. This study will be a 8-week double-blind, placebo controlled study examining the dose-dependent effects of carvedilol (up to 50 mg/day) in methadone stabilized patients. The design will have two phases: 1) a four-week "treatment " phase; and 2) a 4 week " taper and detoxification or transfer" phase. Subjects will be cocaine users who are on stable doses of methadone (60 to 140 mg/day). Carvedilol dose will be increased from 12.5mg/day to the target dose of either 25 or 50 mg/day as tolerated. At the end of the treatment-phase, subjects will undergo detoxification from methadone over a 2 to 4-week period based on an individual's needs, and they will concurrently be tapered off carvedilol.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The adrenergic neurotransmission serves multiple functions including learning, emotional processing and stress response to psychological and physical challenges (Huether, 1996; Sved et al., 2001). Adrenergic transmission also mediates drug withdrawal states and stress-induced relapse to drug use (Aston-Jones et al., 2004; Stewart, 2000). Consistent with these preclinical findings, adrenergic blockers showed promise as a treatment of cocaine dependence (Kampman et al., 2001b; Kampman et al., 2006). These preliminary findings are significant because there are no proven pharmacotherapies for cocaine addiction although an estimated 2.3 million of Americans aged 12 or older are regular cocaine users (SAMHSA, 2004). The societal cost of cocaine addiction is estimated to be $45 billion in the US, suggesting that development of even modestly effective cocaine pharmacotherapies will have great economic benefits. For example, availability of a medication decreasing cocaine use by 10 percent is estimated to have $745 million economic benefit in the US alone (Cartwright, 2000). Thus, developing effective treatments for cocaine addiction is an essential goal with significant benefits both for the society and the individual.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

106

Phase

  • Not Applicable

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
        • Veterans Hospital

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

18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Current opioid dependence as evidenced by documented prior treatment for opioid dependence or signs of opiate withdrawals, self-reported history of opioid dependence for a consecutive 12 month period and a positive urine for opiates.
  • Current cocaine use with self-reported use of cocaine > 1 time/week in at least on month preceding study entry, provision of a cocaine-positive urine and fulfilled DSM-IV criteria for cocaine dependence
  • For women of childbearing age, a negative pregnancy test at screening with agreement to use adequate contraception to prevent pregnancy and monthly pregnancy tests.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • current diagnosis of other drug or alcohol dependence (other than opiates, cocaine or tobacco);
  • serious medical illness including asthma, diabetes, bradycardia, or other arrhythmias and major cardiovascular, renal, endocrine, hepatic disorders;
  • current serious psychiatric illness or history of psychosis, schizophrenia, bipolar type I disorder or significant current suicidal or homicidal thoughts;
  • screening liver function tests (AST or ALT) greater than 3 times normal;
  • known allergy or intolerance for carvedilol or methadone.

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: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Placebo Comparator: Sugar Pill
To be compared to active drug
Drug: sugar pill
Subjects randomized to placebo, carvedilol 25mg or 50mg
Other Names:
  • placebo
Active Comparator: Carvedilol 25 mg
To be compared to placebo and Carvedilol 50 mg
Drug: Carvedilol 25 mg
subjects randomized to placebo, carvedilol 25mg or 50mg
Other Names:
  • Coreg
Active Comparator: Carvedilol 50 mg
To be compared to placebo and Carvedilol 25 mg
Drug: Carvedilol 50 mg
subjects randomized to placebo, carvedilol 25mg or 50mg
Other Names:
  • Coreg

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Percent Days Abstinent From Cocaine - Self Report
Time Frame: 11 weeks
Percent Self reported days of abstinence from any cocaine use during the 11 week trial.
11 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Yale University

Collaborators

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Mehmet Sofuoglu, M.D., Ph.D., Yale University

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

September 1, 2007

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2012

Study Completion (Actual)

January 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 3, 2007

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 3, 2007

First Posted (Estimate)

December 4, 2007

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 2, 2020

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 31, 2020

Last Verified

March 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 0704002562
  • DPMC (Other Identifier: NIDA)
  • R01DA014537 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

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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