Naltrexone in Two Models of Psychosocial Treatments for Cocaine and Alcohol Dependence - 1



Status:Completed
Conditions:Psychiatric, Pulmonary
Therapuetic Areas:Psychiatry / Psychology, Pulmonary / Respiratory Diseases
Healthy:No
Age Range:18 - 65
Updated:4/21/2016
Start Date:April 1998
End Date:November 2007

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Naltrexone and Psychosocial Treatments for the Treatment of Cocaine Dependence Complicated by Alcohol Dependence

The purpose of this study is to see whether naltrexone is safe and useful in preventing
alcohol relapse, as well as in decreasing craving for alcohol in people with a diagnosis of
alcohol and cocaine dependence. Naltrexone is approved by the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) for the treatment of alcohol dependence. However, the medication was not approved as
yet at the dosage we will use in this study. The dosage we will use for the study (150 mg),
is greater than the recommended dosage from the Physician's Desk Reference (50mg). Unlike
other medicines (like Antabuse) useful in the treatment of alcohol dependence, naltrexone
will not make you sick if you drink alcohol. Rather, people who are taking this medication
have reported that it helps decrease the pleasure associated with drinking for them. This
study is being conducted because the medication (Naltrexone) has not been well studied in
people with both alcohol and cocaine dependence, so it is still investigational.

We believe that if we can reduce alcohol consumption through naltrexone and psychotherapy,
this may lead to reduced cocaine use. We are also conducting this study to test two
different types of psychotherapy as a method for reducing cocaine and alcohol use. One type
of psychotherapy, CBT, is designed to help people learn to cope with situations that put
them at high risk for relapse to cocaine and/or alcohol use. The other type of
psychotherapy, BRENDA, will use focuses on strengthening motivation to recover from cocaine
and/or alcohol use, and on developing techniques to handle possible barriers to recovery. We
seek to enroll 300 patients in the study.

The project will use a 2x2 design to assess the efficacy of naltrexone for treating subjects
who are both cocaine and alcohol dependent and who will receive either CBT or BRENDA alone
or in combination with naltrexone. There will be 300 DSM-IV cocaine-alcohol dependent male
and female subjects randomized to one of four groups (75 subjects per group). Subjects will
be randomized to either 150mg/day naltrexone or placebo and to receive either CBT (a type of
cognitive behavior therapy derived from relapse prevention principles), or a new
primary-care basedmodel, BRENDA, comprised of strategies for enhancing motivation and
treatment compliance. All subjects will receive one of the four combinations of medication
and psychosocial treatment. The length of the study for each subject includes one week of
screening/baseline assessments, 12 weeks of double-blind, placebo-controlled naltrexone
treatment combined with one of two psychosocial treatments, and a 6-month and 12-month
follow-up visit. Following successful completion of detoxification (abstinence from alcohol
and cocaine for 7 days), informed consent will be signed, and Week 1 will be devoted to
completing screening and baseline measures. In Week 2, subjects will be randomly assigned to
medication/ psychosocial treatment combination. Following completion of the 12-week,
double-blind treatment trial, subjects will be evaluated at 6-month and 12-months
post-treatment visits.

Inclusion Criteria:

- Male and females, 18-65 years old.

- Meets DSM-IV criteria for current diagnoses of cocaine and alcohol dependence,
determined by the SCID.

- In the past 30 days, S used no less than $200-worth of cocaine and >15 standard
alcohol drinks (avg)/week with at least 1 day of 4 or more drinks, determined by the
TLFB--adapted to collect daily cocaine use.

- Successful completion of alcohol detoxification, i.e.,

- 5 consecutive days of abstinence from cocaine and alcohol, via self-reports and
negative urine toxicology screens.

- Lives a commutable distance to the TRC and agrees to follow-up visits.

- Understands and signs the consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

- Abstinent from cocaine or alcohol for 30 days prior to signing consent form. (S may
have been institutionalized in the prior month and still be eligible if his/her
cocaine and alcohol use that month met inclusion criteria.)

- Current DSM-IV diagnosis of any substance dependence other than cocaine, alcohol,
nicotine, or cannabis determined by the SCID.

- Evidence of opiate use in the past 30 days, determined by self-report on the SCID or
ASI, and/or by a urine drug screen that is positive for opiates at treatment entry.

- Current treatment with psychotropic medications (excluding short-term use of
benzodiazepines for detoxification), including disulfiram.

- History of unstable or serious medical illness, including need for opioid analgesics.

- History of epilepsy or seizure disorder.

- Known severe physical or medical illnesses such as AIDS, active hepatitis,
significant hepatocellular injury as evidenced by elevated bilirubin levels, or
elevated levels over 4.5x normal of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and serum
glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (SGPT).

- Current severe psychiatric symptoms, e.g., psychosis, dementia, acute suicidal or
homicidal ideation, mania or depression requiring antidepressant therapy, or which
would make it unsafe for the patient to participate in the opinion of the primary
investigators.

- Use of an investigational medication in the past 30 days.

- Female Ss who are pregnant, nursing, or not using a reliable method of contraception.
[Note: Criteria 4-10 will be assessed via the medical exam plus results from lab
tests.]
We found this trial at
1
site
3451 Walnut St
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
1 (215) 898-5000
Univ of Pennsylvania Penn has a long and proud tradition of intellectual rigor and pursuit...
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