Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Methadone Maintenance Therapy Combined With Methamphetamine Abuse

February 26, 2026 updated by: Shanghai Mental Health Center

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Treating Patients Under Methadone Maintenance Therapy Combined With Methamphetamine Abuse

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been used to treat opioid and methamphetamine addiction in previous studies, while no evidence was proved for patients methadone maintenance therapy with methamphetamine abuse. The aim of this study is to evaluating the effectiveness and safety of rTMS treatment for methamphetamine abuse in patients with methadone maintenance therapy.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

First, a multicenter, double-blind, randomized control study is going to be carried out. 60 recruited patients will be randomized assigned to the intervention group (40) and the control group (20), receiving either 4-week of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) treatment or 4-week of sham rTMS treatment. Both groups will receive 16-week urine drug test (1 time per week, 4 weeks before rTMS, 4 weeks during rTMS and 8 weeks after rTMS). Self-report methamphetamine use or urine test is set as primary outcome. Cognitive function and craving are also evaluated before and after the intervention. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is applied to investigate the potential neurobiological mechanism of rTMS treatment. This study will be very helpful to develop an evidence-based rTMS treatment protocols for methadone maintenance therapy with methamphetamine abuse and decrease risk of relapse for both the patients and their families.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

55

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

  • China
      • Wuhan, China
        • Wuhan Mental Health 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

18 years to 55 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • aged 18-65 years
  • a diagnosis of OUD according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) and current enrollment in MMT
  • a diagnosis of methamphetamine (MA) use disorder according to the DSM-5
  • four or more positive methamphetamine urine tests within a 4-week period
  • no concurrent medication treatment except for methadone
  • an education level of junior high school or higher
  • normal vision and hearing

Exclusion Criteria:

  • severe physical or neurological conditions requiring active treatment (e.g., stroke, seizure, or traumatic brain injury)
  • use of cognition-enhancing medications within the past 6 months
  • other substance use disorders (excluding nicotine dependence) in recent five years
  • comorbid severe psychiatric disorders (e.g., bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or major depressive disorder)
  • pregnancy or lactation among female participants
  • contraindications for iTBS, such as implanted devices (e.g., pacemakers, cochlear implants, neurostimulators) or intraocular metal fragments

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
Experimental: rTMS treatment group
For rTMS treatment, we will stimulate the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex of each patients using the iTBS pattern everyday. Treatment will lasted for 4 weeks.
Device: repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)
The iTBS group received 900 pulses per day: 3-pulse 50-Hz bursts given every 200 ms (at 5 Hz), 2 s on and 8 s off for 5 min, at 100% resting motor threshold (rMT), over the left DLPFC (F3, EEG system) (4 weeks, 20 daily sessions). A figure-8-shaped Cool-B70 stimulation coil from MagPro X100 device (MagVenture, Farum, Denmark) was used for accurately targeted stimulation. Motor threshold was determined over the left motor cortex, by finding the lowest intensity that produced a motor response in the right abductor pollicis brevis muscles (APB), which produced five motor-evoked potentials responses of at least 50 uV in 10 trials.
Sham Comparator: sham rTMS treatment group
For sham rTMS treatment, we will stimulate the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex of each patients using the sham iTBS pattern and sham coil everyday. Treatment will lasted for 4 weeks.
Device: sham repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)
The sham iTBS group received sham stimulation over the left DLPFC (F3, EEG system) (4 weeks, 20 daily sessions). A figure-8-shaped sham Cool-B70 stimulation coil from MagPro X100 device (MagVenture, Farum, Denmark) was used for accurately targeted stimulation. Motor threshold was determined over the left motor cortex, by finding the lowest intensity that produced a motor response in the right abductor pollicis brevis muscles (APB), which produced five motor-evoked potentials responses of at least 50 uV in 10 trials.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Self-report drug use and urine test
Time Frame: 16 weeks
Patients will be asked to report their drug use for 16 weeks every day and do urine tests once a week for 16 weeks. Loss of visit or rejecting to report or rejecting to do urine tests will be treated as drug use positive (relapse).
16 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change of Craving assessed by Visual Analog Scale
Time Frame: 12 weeks
Evaluate all participants' craving for for methamphetamine assessed by Visual Analog Scales (VAS). Score of VAS range from 0 to 10, and higher values represent high level of craving.
12 weeks
Cognitive function assessed by Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS)
Time Frame: 12 weeks
Evaluate all participants' cognitive function by Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) Chinese version
12 weeks
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
Time Frame: 4 weeks
Functional magnetic resonance imaging is collected once before and once after intervention, mainly collecting structural images, resting state, and task-based fMRI
4 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Shanghai Mental Health Center

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Haifeng Jiang, PhD, Shanghai Mental Health Center

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 (Actual)

February 1, 2020

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 31, 2021

Study Completion (Actual)

December 31, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 9, 2020

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 9, 2020

First Posted (Actual)

February 11, 2020

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 2, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 26, 2026

Last Verified

March 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • HFJiang-004

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

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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