NCT02773212

Targeting Anhedonia in Cocaine Use Disorder

Targeting Anhedonia in Cocaine Use Disorder - Treatment Study

• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 2
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 57 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Illinois at Chicago · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 60 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to examine anhedonia as a potential moderator of treatment outcomes for Cocaine Use Disorder (CUD). Specifically, this study will investigate how anhedonia affects outcomes in contingency management (CM) treatment for CUD and whether anhedonia mediates the effects of adjunctive treatment with a dopaminergic (DAergic) drug, d-amphetamine, on outcomes in CM for CUD, as well as investigate the contribution of anhedonia to overall CUD severity.

Detailed description

Recent research suggests that anhedonia is a key neurobehavioral dysfunction in Cocaine Use Disorder (CUD) that contributes to treatment outcomes. Anhedonia, defined here as lack of interest or pleasure in non-drug rewards, is frequently found in CUD and is related to neural deficits, such as low striatal dopamine and deficient activation to non-drug rewards in mesocortical circuits. Interestingly, not all individuals in CUD have these deficits. Preliminary data suggests that the presence of self-reported anhedonia predicts worse outcome in contingency management (CM) treatment of CUD. Moreover, low baseline dopamine predicts failure to attain abstinence in CM while medications that enhance DA increase CM success rates and responsiveness to rewards. This study specifically aims to test the contribution of anhedonia to overall CUD severity, the relationship of anhedonia to outcomes in CM treatment, and the mediating role of anhedonia in medication enhancement of CM in CUD. To accomplish these aims, individuals with CUD will be enrolled and will undergo 4 weeks of intensive CM treatment, either with or without treatment with the dopaminergic drug, d-amphetamine. A medication only group will be included to solely measure the effects of d-amphetamine. Anhedonia will be assessed using multi-modal subjective, psychophysiological and behavioral measures of reward functioning at baseline, and each week of treatment. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) measures of reward functioning will also be taken at baseline and week 4 in a subset of participants (n = 24)

Conditions

• Cocaine-Related Disorders
• Anhedonia

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DRUG	d-amphetamine	Participants in this group will receive 60 mg of d-amphetamine daily for 4 weeks. There will be a 1 week run up dosing and a 1 week run-down medication period.
BEHAVIORAL	Contingency management	Contingency management is an established cocaine use disorder treatment in which individuals receive monetary rewards for abstinence.
DRUG	Placebo (for d-amphetamine)	60 mg of riboflavin and cornstarch as needed.

Timeline

• Start date: 2017-02-01
• Primary completion: 2022-04-04
• Completion: 2022-04-04
• First posted: 2016-05-16
• Last updated: 2024-08-09
• Results posted: 2024-08-09

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States

Regulatory

• FDA-regulated drug study