NCT01573273

Oxytocin in Cocaine Dependence

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 112 (actual)
• Sponsor: Medical University of South Carolina · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 65 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Stress is likely involved in relapse to cocaine use. This project will investigate the role oxytocin may play in the stress response in cocaine-dependent men and women and examine how oxytocin may impact brain activity in individuals exposed to cocaine-related cues.

Detailed description

Stress is an important predictor of relapse, and targeting stress-activated pathways may lead to therapeutic advancements in the treatment of substance use disorders. Oxytocin has been shown to promote trust, social bonding, and calmness; however, its potential effects have not been explored in cocaine-dependent individuals. Oxytocin receptors have been localized to brain regions that are activated by drug-paired cues and preclinical studies have shown that oxytocin attenuates the acute and long-term behavioral effects of psychostimulants. However, little is known about the role of oxytocin in mediating the affective response to cocaine-paired cues and associated neural activity in cocaine-dependent men and women. This project is a direct evolution from our previous SCOR-supported research. Our work has progressed from characterizing sex/gender differences in response to social stressors and cocaine cues in cocaine-dependent men and women, to our on-going work evaluating whether stress potentiates cue-induced craving and the impact of hormones on this response. The proposed study will investigate the role of oxytocin in the sex/gender differences in stress response and craving in cocaine-dependent individuals and preliminarily explore its therapeutic potential.

Conditions

• Cocaine Dependence

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DRUG	Oxytocin	intranasal administration, 40 IUs
DRUG	Saline	intranasal administration, 40 IUs

Timeline

• Start date: 2012-10-01
• Primary completion: 2017-12-19
• Completion: 2017-12-19
• First posted: 2012-04-09
• Last updated: 2019-03-13
• Results posted: 2019-03-13

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States