Clinical Studies on the Therapeutic Effects of Mirtazapine on Drug-craving in Cocaine Addicts. (MADC)

September 20, 2013 updated by: Dr Benito Antón Palma, Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Dr. Ramón de la Fuente

Phase II Clinical Studies on Anti-addictive Therapeutic Effects of Mirtazapine in Human Subjects Addicted to Cocaine.

INTRODUCTION. One of the main problems of the treatment of cocaine-dependent patients is the high rate of relapses occurs within the first months after detoxification. In the early withdrawal phase, patients suffer severe anxious depressive symptoms, known in the argot as crash, which occurs in parallel with an appetite overflowed by re-experiencing the effects of the substance, known as craving. Most of the times, these clinical symptoms act as negative reinforcement, which can be severe enough to induce a drug-relapse that greatly hampers the treatment.

TYPE OF STUDY randomized, double-blind, placebo-experimental. GENERAL PURPOSE To determine the efficacy of mirtazapine for the treatment of cocaine dependence. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES 1) To evaluate the efficacy in the treatment of craving in individuals with cocaine dependence disorder treated with mirtazapine during acute withdrawal phase. 2) Determine the efficacy of reducing anxious depressive symptomatology (Crash) associated with acute withdrawal in subjects with cocaine dependence disorder treated with mirtazapine. 3) Evaluate the maintenance of abstinence in patients with cocaine dependence disorder treated with mirtazapine. 4) Determine the efficacy of mirtazapine in the treatment of subjects dependent on cocaine comorbid with major depressive disorder.

HYPOTHESIS For pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics mirtazapine contribute to the reduction in the intensity of withdrawal symptoms in cocaine dependent subjects by acting on the neurochemical circuitry involved in the reward-seeking behavior and has a prolonged effect anticraving. METHOD The attending physician outpatient identifies the Addiction Clinic of the National Institute of Psychiatry who meet the inclusion criteria and invite them to participate voluntarily. If patients accept, send them to the principal investigator for the start of the ratings. Demographics INSTRUMENTS, MINI structured interview, Anxiety and Depression Scale Beck Scale.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

Evaluation. Evaluation of cocaine craving was assessed weekly through the Cocaine Craving Questionnaire (CCQ-G) (43-46). The CCQ-G measures the desire or urge level for drug consumption throughout the 45 Likert items established in the Questionnaire. The Likert scale consisted of seven options ranging from 1 to 7. Indicating from the lowest number (1) complete disagree of questions asked/item and the highest number (7) complete agreement of questions answered/item. CCQ-G items were written in past tense, with the intention that participants could report their cocaine craving status (level) during the previous week. Main items in the CCQ-G used to assess cocaine craving defined as factors were; a). Elements that denote intense cocaine craving (factor 1); b). Items that related to the anticipation of positive results (factor 2); c). Anticipation of relief from drug-withdrawal symptoms (factor 3); and d). Items that perceived a lack of control over cocaine consumption, denoting the intention and planning for cocaine consumption (factor 4).

Each week patient were assessed about their psychopathological status through the Symptom Check List 90 (SCL-90-R) (47-50). The SCL-90 evaluate the psychological degree of "distress" shown by a subject through 90 Likert-type reagents, ranging from 0 up to 4, and grouped into nine dimensions, which include, somatization, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation and psychoticism.

Statistical Analysis.

Data were expressed, as mean ± SEM. To determinate the differences in score between groups over time, the data were then analyzed by a two-way repeated measures ANOVA with time (week) as the repeated measure. If there was a significant interaction between time and treatment, we then performed a Tukey's post-hoc test to detect significant differences between each one of the factors at each experimental phase. Comparisons between mean score obtained during each phase were analyzed by a two-way ANOVA (treatment x phase) followed by Tukey's test for post-hoc comparisons. The level of statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

64

Phase

  • Phase 2

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

    • Distrito Federal
      • México. Distrito Federal, Distrito Federal, Mexico, 14370
        • National Institute of Psychiatry

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 40 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Who can read and write. Meet the DSM IV TR criteria for substance dependence disorder (Snuff, cocaine, ethanol and polysubstance.). That meet the ratings.

Exclusion Criteria:

disorder subjects with a history of dependency that are not abstinent (³. 1 month). Subjects with a history of neurological diseases. Subjects with general medical illness (eg CVD, hypertension, DM). Subjects prior to the implementation of neurocognitive testing report having consumed coffee, tea, alcohol or smoked three hours conducting assessments. Subjects who take more than 3 prescription drugs. Those who report being too tired. Subjects who report not having made an effort to answer the tests.

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: Prevention
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Mirtazapine
During the first and second phase of the study, subjects assigned to the control group received one tablet of placebo under daily basis, whereas the mirtazapine group received 30 mg of mirtazapine daily. During the third phase, placebo group received same tablet under daily basis, whereas the mirtazapine group received 15 mg of mirtazapine.
During the first and second phase of the study,the mirtazapine group received 30 mg of mirtazapine daily. During the third phase, the mirtazapine group received 15 mg of mirtazapine.
Other Names:
  • MIR

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Evidence that Mirtazapine attenuates cocaine-craving.
Time Frame: Four years
Four years

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Investigators

  • Study Director: Benito Antón-Palma, MD-PhD, National Institute of Psychiatry
  • Principal Investigator: Ricardo Nanni-Alvarado, Psychiatry, National Institute of Psychiatry

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

January 1, 2007

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2011

Study Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 20, 2013

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 20, 2013

First Posted (Estimate)

September 24, 2013

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

September 24, 2013

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 20, 2013

Last Verified

September 1, 2013

More Information

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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