Combined Guanfacine and Mindfulness Meditation as an Adjunct to Buprenorphine Maintenance in Opioid Use Disorder

The US is currently going through an opioid crisis, and while Medication Assisted Treatments such as buprenorphine (BUP) have proved highly effective at stabilizing the neurobiology underlying acute withdrawal, they have been less effective at preventing longer-term relapse and adherence. This may be due to the fact that they do not fully engage the neural processes sub-serving the emotional control of sensitized negative mood and reward sensitivity during stress- and opioid-cue provocation, respectively. In contrast while the alpha2 agonist, guanfacine, may attenuate stress-provoked opioid craving by mediating top-down prefrontal control over sensitized dysphoria, the behavioral intervention, Mindfulness Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) may reduce opioid cue-provoked craving by mediating top-down prefrontal control over hedonic dysregulation. Furthermore, while both interventions separately may prove effective as longer-term adjunctive therapies, they may offer greater efficacy together, providing a unique medication/behavioral combination able to target both stress and reward provocation mechanisms. To optimally test this hypothesis, a staged approach is proposed to first confirm the efficacy of both GXR and MORE, independently and combined (R61), prior to elucidating underlying neural mechanisms (R33). Using a 2 X 2 design, N=80 OUD individuals on BUP will be randomized to either 6-weeks of Guanfacine extended release (GXR; 3mgs, n=40) or placebo (PBO; n=40). Half of all participants in each group will then receive either weekly MORE, or a Support Group (SG) control, creating four intervention groups (Control Grp: PBO+SG, n=20); (GXR Grp: GXR+SG, n=20); (MORE Grp: PBO+ MORE, n=20); (Combined Grp: GXR+MORE, n=20). A pre- and post-laboratory study will be conducted before and after six weeks of intervention where participants will be randomly exposed to 3 personalized guided imageries (stress, opioid cue, neutral). Subjective measures of opioid craving, anxiety, mood, stress, emotional reappraisal, and heart rate will be collected before and after imagery exposure. Following milestone completion, an identical design is proposed in N=144 individuals, where participants will be exposed to imageries in the MRI scanner (R33). On the basis of prior research, it is hypothesized in that GXR will attenuate opioid craving and improve emotion regulation during stress, while MORE will demonstrate the same effects during opioid cue exposure. Combined GXR and MORE will also demonstrate additive or synergistic improvements compared with each intervention alone (R61). The effects of GXR on opioid cue- and MORE on stress-provoked opioid seeking will be explored. In the R33 component, it is hypothesized that GXR will improve regulatory and affective brain function during stress, and MORE will improve regulatory and reward function during opioid cue exposure. Combined GXR and MORE may improve regulatory function in an additive or synergistic manner (R33). Findings will help elucidate the efficacy and neural mechanisms underpinning a novel integrated pharmaco-behavioral therapy for OUD individuals maintained on BUP.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Opioid Use Disorder; Mindfulness; Guanfacine
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Guanfacine pharmacotherapy; Behavioral: Mindfulness Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE)

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 224
• Phase: Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Suchismita Ray, PhD; Phone Number: 732-266-4553; Email: shmita@rutgers.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • New Jersey
    • Newark, New Jersey, United States, 07107
      • Recruiting
      • Rutgers School of Health Professions
      • Contact: Suchismita Ray, PhD; Phone Number: 732-266-4553; Email: shmita@rutgers.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

N=224 individuals with a history of SCID-5 OUD, and maintained on BUP for at least 4 weeks (N=80 in the R61 phase and N=144 in the R33 phase). These individuals must be:

• aged 18 to 55 years and have a body mass index (BMI) of 18-35;
• have a positive urine toxicology screen for non-prescription opioids
• be in good health as verified by screening examination
• able to read English and provide informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Current SCID V criteria for a moderate to severe substance use disorder other than opioids or nicotine (although mild use will be permitted)
• Use of medications in the last 6 months that may affect cerebral function with the exception of BUP and individuals stabilized on SSRIs
• psychotic or severely psychiatrically disabled (i.e. suicidal, current mania)
• hypotensive individuals with sitting blood pressure below 100/50 mmHG
• Women who are pregnant, nursing or refuse to use a reliable form of birth control
• EKG evidence at baseline screening of any clinically significant conduction abnormalities (Bazett's QTc of >450 msec for men and QTc>470 msec for women)
• R33 phase will additionally include failure to satisfy fMRI safety protocols.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Factorial Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Combined Group; Will receive both Guanfacine pharmacotherapy and MORE intervention	Drug: Guanfacine pharmacotherapy; It is a pharmacotherapy; Behavioral: Mindfulness Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE); It is a mindfulness intervention
Experimental: MORE Group; Will receive MORE intervention and placebo medication	Behavioral: Mindfulness Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE); It is a mindfulness intervention
Experimental: Guanfacine Group; Will receive Guanfacine intervention and Support group control (non-mindfulness) intervention	Drug: Guanfacine pharmacotherapy; It is a pharmacotherapy
No Intervention: Control Group; Will receive placebo and support group control (non-mindfulness)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Craving	Self report of opioid craving will be collected. Will be measured using a likert scale 0 (not at all) to 10 (extreme).	At pre- and post-intervention (6 weeks intervention)
Anxiety	Self report of anxiety will be collected. Will be measured using a likert scale 0 (not at all) to 10 (extreme). .	At pre- and post-intervention (6 weeks intervention)
Stress	Self report of stress will be collected. Will be measured using a likert scale 0 (not at all) to 10 (extreme).	At pre- and post-intervention (6 weeks intervention)
Mood	Self report of mood will be collected. Positive and negative mood will be collected on a 4 point likert scale 0 (not at all) and 4 (extreme)	At pre- and post-intervention (6 weeks intervention)
Emotional Dysregulation	Self report of emotional dysregulation data will be collected. Will be measured using a 10 point likert scale (0=not at all) and 10 (extreme)	At pre- and post-intervention (6 weeks intervention)
Heart Rate	Heart rate data will be collected using an EKG monitor during the entire lab procedure while the participants will hear stress, opioid, and neutral related scripts.	At pre- and post-intervention (6 weeks intervention)
Brain Activation	Brain activation data will be collected using Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) signal during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while participants hear stress, opioid and neutral scripts.	At pre- and post-intervention (6 weeks intervention)
Brain Connectivity	Brain connectivity data will be collected using Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) signal during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while participants hear stress, opioid and neutral scripts.	At pre- and post-intervention (6 weeks intervention)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
• Collaborators: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 15, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): August 31, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 9, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 11, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): October 15, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 8, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 4, 2025
• Last Verified: August 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Opioid; Guanfacine; MIndfulness
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Narcotic-Related Disorders; Mental Disorders; Chemically-Induced Disorders; Opioid-Related Disorders; Substance-Related Disorders; Physiological Effects of Drugs; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Neurotransmitter Agents; Adrenergic alpha-2 Receptor Agonists; Adrenergic alpha-Agonists; Adrenergic Agonists; Adrenergic Agents; Antihypertensive Agents; Guanfacine
• Other Study ID Numbers: Pro2024002125; 1R61DA059906-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: Yes
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No