Guanfacine to Reduce Stress-Induced Cocaine/Alcohol Craving and Relapse

November 28, 2016 updated by: Rajita Sinha, Yale University

This study aims to test the preliminary efficacy of 3.0 mg of guanfacine (GFC) daily versus placebo in cocaine and/or alcohol dependent individuals. This proposal is a laboratory and treatment outcome study to examine the effects of guanfacine on brief exposure to stress, drug cues and neutral situations on cocaine/alcohol craving, mood and neurobiological reactivity in a sample of cocaine and/or alcohol dependent individuals. Guanfacine will be beneficial for reduction in stress and drug cue induced craving and related arousal. In a sample of 60 cocaine and/or alcohol dependent men and women, we propose to examine (a) differences in measures of cocaine craving, emotion state, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activation, physiological arousal and plasma catecholamine response to stress imagery and to drug cue imagery as compared to neutral imagery; (b) reduction in cocaine/alcohol abstinence symptoms; and (c) improvement in cocaine and alcohol treatment outcomes as measured by increasing abstinence, reduction in cocaine/alcohol use and increased treatment attendance. Hypothesis 1: Guanfacine will decrease stress-induced cocaine craving, negative emotions and related arousal in the laboratory as compared to placebo. Hypothesis 2a: As compared to the PLA group, the GFC group will show significant reductions in protracted withdrawal symptoms as measured by the CSSA/CIWA during the 9-week treatment period.

Hypothesis 2b: As compared to the PLA group, a higher percentage of the GFC patients will remain abstinent during the 9-week treatment period with a higher percent of negative cocaine urines and alcohol-free days.

Hypothesis 2c: The GFC group will show greater adherence to treatment as measured by the days in treatment as compared to the Pla group.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

75

Phase

  • 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 Locations

  • United States
    • Connecticut
      • New Haven, Connecticut, United States, 06519
        • Yale University School of Medicine: Yale Stress 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

Ages Eligible for Study

14 years to 46 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Male or female individuals, ages 18 and above, meeting current DSM-IV criteria for cocaine and/or alcohol dependence.
  • COCAINE SAMPLE: meet current DSM-IV criteria for cocaine dependence; documented positive urine toxicology screen for cocaine at intake
  • ALCOHOLIC SAMPLE: meet current DSM-IV criteria for alcohol dependence
  • Subject has voluntarily given informed consent and signed the informed consent document.
  • Able to read English and complete study evaluations.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Meet current criteria for dependence on another psychoactive substance, excluding nicotine and caffeine;
  • Any current use of opiates or past history of opiate abuse/dependence;
  • Current use of any psychoactive drugs, including anxiolytics, antidepressants, naltrexone or antabuse;
  • Any psychotic disorder or current Axis I psychiatric symptoms requiring specific attention, including need for psychiatric medications for current major depression and anxiety disorders
  • Significant underlying medical conditions such as cerebral, renal, thyroid or cardiac pathology which in the opinion of study physician would preclude patient from fully cooperating or be of potential harm during the course of the study;
  • Abstinent from cocaine for more than two weeks prior to admission.
  • Hypotensive individuals with sitting blood pressure below 90/50 mmHG.

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
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Guanfacine
Drug: Guanfacine
1.5mg BID
Placebo Comparator: PLA
Drug: Placebo
placebo

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
stress-induced cocaine craving and negative emotions
Time Frame: 5 years
5 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Drug and alcohol use
Time Frame: over ninety days
over ninety days

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)

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

April 1, 2006

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2016

Study Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 22, 2007

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 2, 2008

First Posted (Estimate)

January 3, 2008

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

November 30, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 28, 2016

Last Verified

November 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 0512000886
  • R01DA027130 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

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.

Subscribe