Wayne State Warriors Marijuana Clinical Research Program: Cannabinoid Adjunct to Prolonged Exposure & Recovery — CAPER  

PTSD Clinical Trial

Official title: Wayne State Warriors Marijuana Clinical Research Program: Cannabinoid Adjunct to Prolonged Exposure & Recovery

Status Not yet recruiting

Clinical Trial Summary

The overall strategy is to recruit veterans with PTSD who report minimal current cannabis use but are interested in or considering therapeutic cannabis to manage mental health symptoms (anxiety, depression, PTSD and/or suicidality). The information gained from this study could lead to the development of new treatments for persons who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and maintain better mental health.

Clinical Trial Description

The total time commitment estimated per participant 21 study visits. This is broken down below:

Visit 1: Pre-Screening and informed Consent: During this visit the potential participant will learn about the study procedures and sign the informed consent documents. Also, during this visit a licensed clinician will administer the (CAPS-5).

Visit 2: Physical Examination and Questionnaires: During this visit the participant will undergo a full physical examination conducted by a licensed medical professional. At this time, they will collect blood, urine, breathalyzer and saliva samples.

Visit 3: Pre-Treatment Behavioral Tasks and Neurocognitive Assessments: During this visit, we will administer behavioral tasks that measure reward decision-making.

Visit 4 Pre-Treatment Fear Acquisition & Extinction Learning and Magnetic Resonance (MR) Scan: During this visit the participant will complete several computer tasks, and the study staff will be measuring reaction time and psychophysiological measures. The tasks that the participant will perform will show three different images and an aversive stimulus (e.g. loud burst of noise or animated snake) may follow one image most of the time, while the other images may never be followed by the aversive cue. The participant will need to try to predict whether the aversive cue will occur or not based on which image is shown and will be asked to repeatedly rate on a scale how likely it is that he or she thinks an aversive cue will occur after each image. Lastly, during the session the participant will also be asked to report his or her level of anxiety on a scale from 0 to 100.

Visit 5: Pre-Treatment Fear Extinction Recall with MR Scan: This visit will be very similar to Visit 4. Participants will participate in the same type of task inside the MR scanner, while the study staff measures reaction time and psychophysiological responding and brain activation. Participants will view the same images he or she did previously and may experience the same aversive stimulus as during Visit 4. Participants will again be asked to rate how much they expect to experience the aversive stimulus after each image and will also be asked to report their level of anxiety on a scale from 0 to 100.

Visit 6&7: Prolonged Exposure (PE) Sessions 1 & 2: These sessions will consist of psychoeducation that includes discussion or reactions to trauma, treatment rationale, breathing retraining, and review of the Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS) to assess level of distress from 0 to 100 (100=extreme anxiety/distress) when facing fears. One session occurs weekly across 2 weeks.

Visit 8-11: These sessions will consist of repeated exposures to trauma memories (imaginal exposure) and avoided situations (in vivo exposure). As is standard, patients will also practice exposures (e.g., listen to tapes of imaginal exposure, carry out in vivo exposure) outside of PE sessions as "homework". At exposure-focused sessions (Sessions 3-6) either cannabis or placebo (PBO) will be administered just before the session. One session occurs weekly across 8 weeks.

Visit 12: This visit is similar as the previous just a little longer due to a mid-treatment assessment. (Session 7)

Visit 13-15: These sessions will consist of repeated exposures to trauma memories (imaginal exposure) and avoided situations (in vivo exposure). As is standard, patients will also practice exposures (e.g., listen to tapes of imaginal exposure, carry out in vivo exposure) outside of PE sessions as "homework". At exposure-focused sessions (Sessions 8-10) either cannabis or PBO will be administered just before the session. One session occurs weekly across 8 weeks.

Visit 16: Post-Treatment Assessments: PE Session 11 will include a review of therapeutic gains/relapse prevention/assessments.

Visit 17: Post-Treatment Behavioral Tests and MR Scan: This visit will be very similar to Visit 4. Participants will participate in the same type of task inside the MR scanner, while the study staff measures reaction time and psychophysiological responding and brain activation. Participants will view the same images he or she did previously and may experience the same aversive stimulus as during Visit 4. Participants will again be asked to rate how much they expect to experience the aversive stimulus after each image and will also be asked to report their level of anxiety on a scale from 0 to 100.

Visit 18: Post- Treatment Behavioral Tests and MR Scan: This visit will be very similar to Visit 5. Participants will participate in the same type of task inside the MR scanner, while the study staff measures reaction time and psychophysiological responding and brain activation. Participants will view the same images he or she did previously and may experience the same aversive stimulus as during Visit 5. Participants will again be asked to rate how much they expect to experience the aversive stimulus after each image and will also be asked to report their level of anxiety on a scale from 0 to 100.

Visit 19: 3-Month Follow-Up Treatment Assessment: This session is similar to Visit 16 and will include review of therapeutic gains/relapse prevention/assessments.

Visit 20: 6-Month Follow-Up Treatment Assessment: This session is similar to Visit 19 and will include review of therapeutic gains/relapse prevention/assessments.

Visit 21: 9-Month Follow-Up Treatment Assessment: This session is similar to Visit 20 and will include review of therapeutic gains/relapse prevention/assessments. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
• PTSD
• Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
• Stress Disorders, Traumatic

• NCT number: NCT06222268
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: Wayne State University
• Contact: Sarah Durack
• Phone: 313-577-2790
• Email: cq8122@wayne.edu
• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Phase: Phase 1
• Start date: August 2024
• Completion date: September 2027