Studies of Opioid Seeking Behavior: Yohimbine and Hydrocortisone Effects (YHO)

April 3, 2018 updated by: Mark Greenwald, PhD, Wayne State University

Biobehavioral Studies of Opioid Seeking Behavior: Yohimbine and Hydrocortisone Effects

This research deals with behaviors that are part of opioid dependence. The purpose is to study the extent to which stress and other factors, including money and amount of work effort, affect opioid choice. Specifically, the investigators will examine the effects of three issues/factors. The first is how hard participants are willing to work to obtain an opioid drug; the second is how much opioid drug would participants choose instead of money; and the third factor is how much participant's opioid drug choices are influenced after they are administered the drugs yohimbine and hydrocortisone, both of which could produce stress-like symptoms.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Detailed Description

Phase 1: Participants will first be an outpatient and must come to the Tolan Park Medical Building daily to receive buprenorphine doses. This phase will last at least 10 days or longer. Three times per week during the first two weeks (i.e., on 6 different days), participants will be asked to provide urine samples and to complete questionnaires that ask about opiate withdrawal symptoms.

Phase 2: Participants will then live on an inpatient research unit (located in Detroit Michigan) for at least 16 consecutive nights and possibly up to 18 consecutive nights. Participants will continue on the same dose of buprenorphine as in phase 1.

During this stay they will participate in a total of 11 experimental sessions. Participants will take part in multiple trials in which they have the opportunity to choose drug, hydromorphone, or money. Hydromorphone is a heroin-like opioid. During the first two test sessions, participants will receive a sample of the drug doses that can be chosen. Before each of the final 9 test sessions begin, participants will be given a capsule containing either different doses of the drug yohimbine or a placebo (blank). Yohimbine is a drug that has been shown to produce a "stress"-like response in humans. Then participants will be given a capsule that contains either different doses of the drug hydrocortisone or a placebo (blank). Hydrocortisone is also a drug that can produce a "stress"-like response in humans. Then participants will have the opportunity to choose either drug or money by using a computer to earn choices. Respiration rate, oxygen saturation, heart rate, and blood pressure will be monitored throughout choice trials. Self-report questionnaires will be completed at different times during the study.

Phase 3: After participants have completed the experimental procedures, they will again come to the Tolan Park Medical Building daily to receive buprenorphine doses. The dose of buprenorphine will be gradually decreased so that they will eventually be free from medication. This will take three weeks. We will administer questionnaires and collect urine samples three times each week.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

21

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

    • Michigan
      • Detroit, Michigan, United States, 48201
        • Wayne State University

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 55 years (ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Heroin dependent research volunteers

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Opioid dependent, as determined by structured clinical interview for DSM-IV (SCID) and Addiction Severity Index (ASI)
  • Positive urine test for opiates
  • Willing to use an adequate form of contraception for the duration of the study.
  • Reads and writes English
  • Participants must be in generally good health to be eligible. All candidates will receive a routine medical exam (history and physical) with standard laboratory tests (including blood and urine samples, EKG, mandatory TB testing, and voluntary HIV testing).

Exclusion Criteria:

  • No candidate who has a current DSM-IV Axis I disorder other than Drug Dependence or a history of serious psychiatric problems (e.g. psychosis, bipolar or major depression) will be allowed to participate.
  • Candidates meeting criteria for opioid or nicotine dependence will not be excluded, but those with other Substance Dependence disorders will be excluded. Those with Abuse of Alcohol, Cannabis, Cocaine, or Benzodiazepines will not be excluded, but participants must provide an alcohol free breath specimen, and a benzodiazepine free urine sample.
  • No candidate with medical (neurological, cardiovascular, pulmonary or systemic) disorders will be allowed to participate. This will be determined with history and physical exam, standard laboratory testing (blood and urine), EKG, and TB tests (to avoid transmitting this communicable disease on the residential unit or in the laboratory).
  • Candidates with evidence of cognitive impairment (based on reading ability and comprehension, will be excluded.
  • Female candidates who are pregnant (urine pregnancy test), lactating, or not using adequate birth control methods (self-report) will be excluded.
  • Candidates with injection phobia, or seeking treatment for opioid dependence will be excluded.

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

Collaborators and Investigators

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

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.

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

December 1, 2011

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

April 1, 2017

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

April 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 16, 2012

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 21, 2012

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

February 22, 2012

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

April 5, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 3, 2018

Last Verified

April 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

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.

Clinical Trials on Opioid-Related Disorders

3
Subscribe