A medication screening trial evaluation of reserpine, gabapentin and lamotrigine pharmacotherapy of cocaine dependence.

AIMS: To conduct a preliminary evaluation of the safety and efficacy of reserpine, gabapentin or lamotrigine versus an unmatched placebo control as a treatment for cocaine dependence. DESIGN: A 10-week out-patient study using the Cocaine Rapid Efficacy and Safety Trial (CREST) study design. SETTING: The study was conducted at the Cincinnati Medication Development Research Unit (MDRU). PARTICIPANTS: Participants met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual version IV (DSM-IV) criteria for cocaine dependence. Sixty participants were enrolled, with 50 participants completing the final study measures. INTERVENTION: The targeted daily doses of medication were reserpine 0.5 mg, gabapentin 1800 mg and lamotrigine 150 mg. All participants received 1 hour of manualized individual cognitive behavioral therapy on a weekly basis. MEASUREMENTS: Primary outcome measures of efficacy included urine benzoylecgonine (BE) level, Cocaine Clinical Global Impression scale--observer and self-report of cocaine use. Safety measures included adverse events, electrocardiograms (ECGs), vital signs and laboratory tests. FINDINGS: Subjective measures of cocaine dependence indicated significant improvement for all study groups. Urine BE results indicated a significant improvement for the reserpine group (P < 0.05) and non-significant changes for the other study groups. No pattern of physical or laboratory abnormalities attributable to treatment with any of the medications was identified. There were three serious adverse events reported, none of which were related to study procedures. The medications appeared to be tolerated well. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings suggest that reserpine may be worthy of further study as a cocaine dependence treatment.

A placebo-controlled screening trial of tiagabine, sertraline and donepezil as cocaine dependence treatments.

AIMS: To conduct a preliminary evaluation of the safety and efficacy of tiagabine, sertraline or donepezil versus an unmatched placebo control as a treatment for cocaine dependence. DESIGN: A 10-week out-patient study was conducted using the Cocaine Rapid Efficacy and Safety Trial (CREST) study design. SETTING: This study was conducted at the Cincinnati Medication Development Research Unit (MDRU) and at an affiliated site in Dayton, Ohio. PARTICIPANTS: Participants met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual version IV (DSM-IV) criteria for cocaine dependence. Sixty-seven participants were enrolled with 55 completing final study measures. INTERVENTION: The targeted daily doses of medication were tiagabine 20 mg, sertraline 100 mg and donepezil 10 mg. All participants received 1 hour of manualized individual cognitive behavioral therapy on a weekly basis. MEASUREMENTS: Primary outcome measures of efficacy included urine benzoylecgonine (BE) level, Cocaine Clinical Global Impression Scale-Observer and self-report of cocaine use. Safety measures included adverse events, ECGs, vital signs and laboratory tests. FINDINGS: Subjective measures of cocaine dependence indicated significant improvement for all study groups. Generalized estimating equations analysis indicated that the tiagabine group showed a trend toward a significant decrease in urine BE level from baseline to weeks 5-8 (P = 0.10) and non-significant changes for the other study groups. No pattern of physical or laboratory abnormalities attributable to treatment with any of the medications was identified. There were three serious adverse events reported, none of which were related to study procedures. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings suggest that tiagabine may be worthy of further study as a cocaine dependence treatment.

An open-label pilot study of methylphenidate in the treatment of cocaine dependent patients with adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

A multi-site, open-label study of methylphenidate for treating patients with comorbid diagnoses of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and cocaine dependence was performed. Forty-one participants, who met DSM-IV criteria for adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and cocaine dependence, were enrolled into this ten week outpatient study. The targeted total daily dose of methylphenidate was 60 mg (20 mg TID). Participants received individual substance abuse therapy throughout the trial. Safety measures included adverse events, vital signs, and electrocardiograms. Methylphenidate's efficacy was assessed by both objective and subjective measures. Seventy percent of the participants completed final study measures. Safety measures indicated that methylphenidate was well tolerated by the participants. Subjective efficacy measures suggested that participants evidenced improvement in both cocaine dependence and adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms. Quantitative benzoylecgonine indicated that only those participants categorized as being compliant showed improvement. A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of methylphenidate for this population may be warranted.