Effects of Chantix on Relapse Prevention for Smoking Cessation

August 16, 2010 updated by: University of Pennsylvania

Validation of a Novel Paradigm for Screening Medications for Nicotine Dependence

The goal of the proposed study is to validate an experimental paradigm to assess medication effects on smoking relapse following a brief (3-day) monitored period of smoking abstinence and a programmed cigarette lapse.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The proposed human experiment will test the validity of a novel paradigm that may provide a method for distinguishing compounds that are likely to have efficacy from those that are not, before they are tested in more costly large-scale clinical trials. Specifically, in a within-subject (cross-over) behavioral pharmacology investigation of 60 smokers, we will test the effects of varenicline versus placebo on smoking behavior in the natural environment following a 3-day period of monitored abstinence and a programmed cigarette lapse. A positive signal for varenicline effects in this study would provide support for the sensitivity of the paradigm. In addition, following completion of all assessments, participants will be followed in a 13-week open-label varenicline smoking cessation trial to determine whether response to varenicline in the laboratory study predicts clinical response in the open-label trial.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

62

Phase

  • 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

  • United States
    • Pennsylvania
      • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19104
        • Tobacco Use Research Center, University of Pennsylvania

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:

  • Eligible participants will be 68 (34 male and 34 female) smokers aged 18-65, who smoke ≥ 10 cigarettes per day, provide a baseline CO reading ≥ 10 ppm and who plan to live in the area for the next 6-months.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Smoking Behavior

    1. Use of chewing tobacco or snuff
    2. Current enrollment or plans to enroll in another smoking cessation program in the next 5 months
    3. Plan to use other nicotine substitutes or smoking cessation treatments in the next 5 months
    4. Provide a baseline CO reading < 10 ppm

Alcohol/Drug Exclusion Criteria

  1. History of substance abuse and/or currently receiving treatment for substance abuse (e.g., alcohol, opioids, cocaine, marijuana, or stimulants)
  2. Current alcohol consumption that exceeds >25 standard drinks/week

Medication Exclusion Criteria

1. Current use or recent discontinuation (within last 14-days) of the following medications:

  1. Any form of smoking cessation medication (zyban, wellbutrin, wellbutrin SR, Chantix, NRT)

  2. Any form of anti-psychotic medications that includes:

    • antipsychotics,
    • atypical antipsychotics,
    • mood-stabilizers,
    • anti-depressants (tricyclics, SSRI's, MAOI's),
    • anti-panic agents,
    • anti-obsessive agents,
    • anti-anxiety agents, and
    • stimulants (e.g., Provigil, Ritalin).
  3. Medication for chronic pain
  4. Anti-coagulants
  5. Any heart medications
  6. Daily medication for asthma

Medical Exclusion Criteria

  1. Women who are pregnant, planning a pregnancy, or lactating.
  2. History or current diagnosis of psychosis, major depression or bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or any Axis 1 disorder as identified by the SCID.
  3. Serious or unstable disease within the past 6 months (e.g., cancer [except melanoma], heart disease, HIV).
  4. History of epilepsy or a seizure disorder.
  5. History or current diagnosis (last 6-months) of abnormal rhythms and/or tachycardia (>100 beats/minute); history or current diagnosis of COPD, cardiovascular disease (stroke, angina, coronary heart disease), heart attack in the last 6 months, uncontrolled hypertension (SBP>150 or DBP>90)
  6. History of Kidney and/or liver failure (including transplant).
  7. Wears a device to aid in hearing (hearing aid, cochlear implant, etc.).
  8. Hearing threshold < 40 dB SPL at 1000 Hz.
  9. Color blindness.

General Exclusion

  1. Any medical condition or concomitant medication that could compromise participant safety or treatment, as determined by the Principal Investigator and/or Study Physician.
  2. Inability to provide informed consent or complete any of the study tasks as determined by the Principal Investigator and/or Study Physician.
  3. Any physical or visual impairment that may prevent the individual from using a computer keyboard or completing any study tasks.

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: Screening
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Varenicline
Participants will complete a 21-day study phase that will include a 10-day drug run-up and monitoring phase (days 1-10), a 3-day abstinence phase (days 11-13), and a programmed lapse (day 14) followed by a 7-day observation phase in which participants are asked to remain abstinent and will receive modest monetary reinforcement for doing so (days 15-21).
Drug: Varenicline
Day 1 - Day 3 0.5mg once daily Day 4 - Day 7 0.5mg twice daily Day 8 - End of Treatment 1.0mg twice daily
Other Names:
  • Chantix
Placebo Comparator: Placebo
Participants will complete a 21-day study phase that will include a 10-day drug run-up and monitoring phase (days 1-10), a 3-day abstinence phase (days 11-13), and a programmed lapse (day 14) followed by a 7-day observation phase in which participants are asked to remain abstinent and will receive modest monetary reinforcement for doing so (days 15-21).
Drug: Placebo
Participants will take placebo pills for 21-days using the same regimen as the varenicline study period.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Days of abstinence following the programmed lapse
Time Frame: 7 days
7 days

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Pennsylvania

Collaborators

AstraZeneca

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

September 1, 2006

Primary Completion (Actual)

August 1, 2007

Study Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2007

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 28, 2009

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 28, 2009

First Posted (Estimate)

July 29, 2009

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

August 17, 2010

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 16, 2010

Last Verified

July 1, 2009

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 805394

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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