View clinical trials related to Substance-Related Disorders.
Filter by:This is a single site, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover study to assess the pharmacodynamics (PD) of RDC-0313 coadministered with buprenorphine in 12 healthy, opioid-experienced, non-treatment-seeking subjects.
This novel compound is a new experimental treatment that may help people to stop compulsive overeating. Compulsive overeating or binge eating is one of the main reasons why people are overweight or obese. Recent research has shown that some kinds of overeating may be linked to a brain chemical called dopamine. There is some evidence that blocking the action of this chemical in animals can reduce food intake, particularly of foods that are high in fat and sugar. The purpose of this study is to find out if this compound (which blocks the effects of dopamine) has the same effect in overweight or obese people, as it does in animals.
Background: - Children who enter the foster care system are all too often exposed to illicit drugs in the home. Children from these homes, known as drug endangered children, are not routinely tested for harmful substances. Any short- and long-term physical or developmental problems they may experience as a result of this exposure often go undetected and untreated. - Children who are placed into protective custody are not always screened by physicians or nurse practitioners. Although drug-endangered children under 18 years of age automatically receive a urine toxicology screen to determine the types and levels of illicit drugs in their systems, this procedure has difficulties and limitations that may affect the quality of the data. Researchers are interested in developing more effective methods of analyzing the presence or absence of illicit environmental drug exposure in children. Objectives: - To determine the most effective method of identifying long-term illicit stimulant drug exposure in drug-endangered children. Eligibility: - Children under 18 years of age who are being placed into protective custody after having been found in a home where drugs are manufactured, used, or sold. Design: - Researchers will gain verbal consent for the procedure for children who are 7 years of age or older. Children younger than 7 years of age will not be required to give verbal consent for sample collection. - Researchers will collect standard urine samples for toxicological screening. Part of the sample will be sent to the National Institute on Drug Abuse for evaluation; the rest will remain with the local authority. - In addition to this standard procedure, researchers will collect a hair sample by cutting a small amount of hair from the crown of the head as close to the root as possible (and not pulling any hair out of the child's head). - Researchers will also use an oral swab to collect a saliva sample from the inside cheek of each child. - No clinical care will be provided under this protocol....
Background: - Nicotine addiction is common among people who smoke tobacco, and the addictive properties of nicotine make smoking cessation difficult even for people who want to quit. Research has shown that smoking causes changes in the brain that lead to addiction and craving, but more research is needed to determine how different doses of nicotine and different intervals of receiving nicotine affect brain function. A greater understanding of nicotine's effect on the brain, as studied through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), may improve the effectiveness of smoking cessation therapies and treatments. Objectives: - To determine the effects of nicotine on brain function and chemistry in experienced cigarette smokers. Eligibility: - Current smokers (at least 20 cigarettes per day for at least 1 year) between 18 and 50 years of age. Design: - The study involves five separate research experiments. Most participants will be involved in only one experiment. - The experiments will evaluate brain activity and function using fMRI. Participants will be trained in a series of tests on cognitive function before beginning the experimental part of the study. - Experiment 1: Participants will have three fMRI scan sessions after receiving different dose levels of intravenous nicotine. - Experiment 2: Participants will have four fMRI scan sessions after receiving two doses of nicotine separated by 1/4, 1/2, 3, and 24 hours. - Experiment 3: Participants will have two sets of nicotine injections separated by 45 minutes, with each injection series containing five rapid injections of small amounts of nicotine (to mimic five puffs on a cigarette). - Experiment 4: Participants will have three fMRI sessions after receiving a single injection of nicotine at three different rates (over 15, 60, or 120 seconds). In addition there will be three more sessions involving a nicotine patch and a nicotine injection as well as a placebo session. - Experiment 5: Participants will have three fMRI sessions that will involve looking at different kinds of pictures related to or not related to smoking after receiving a single injection of nicotine. - Participants will also provide blood samples for further study....
Background: - Individuals with schizophrenia have a significantly higher tendency to develop substance abuse or dependence than the general population. For instance, people with schizophrenia smoke much more than the general population, and many are dependent on street drugs such as cocaine and heroin. However, these individuals are rarely included in research studies that might provide more information about treatments for both schizophrenia and substance abuse. - Strong evidence suggests that schizophrenia and substance dependence have similar effects on the brain, affecting attention, memory, and eye movement. Other research indicates that schizophrenia and substance dependence affect the same parts of the dopamine system, contributing to problems in brain function that require treatment. These new developments provide a strong rationale to study the combination of schizophrenia and substance dependence. - Nicotine may help improve brain function and thinking in individuals with both schizophrenia and drug dependence. Some of the thinking and memory problems experienced by these individuals can be treated with nicotine. However, more research is needed to determine exactly how nicotine affects individuals with both schizophrenia and drug dependence. Objectives: - To determine whether individuals with schizophrenia and drug dependence show impairment in tests of eye tracking, attention, and memory compared with healthy control subjects. - To evaluate the effect of nicotine on eye tracking, attention, and memory in individuals with both schizophrenia and substance dependence. Eligibility: - Current smokers (at least 10 cigarettes per day for the past year) between 18 and 55 years of age who (1) have been diagnosed with schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder, (2) have been diagnosed with schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder and are currently using heroin and/or cocaine, or (3) are healthy individuals with no family history of psychotic illness. Design: - The study will consist of one training session and three testing sessions. Each session will last about 2 hours. - The training session will introduce participants to the study tests and evaluate their tolerance of the nicotine nasal spray used in the study. Participants who cannot tolerate the higher dose of the spray will not continue in the study. - At the start of each testing session, smokers will have one cigarette to standardize the time of the most recent exposure to nicotine. - During the testing sessions, participants will receive a placebo spray, a lower dose of nicotine, or a higher dose of nicotine, and then will be asked to perform tests that evaluate attention, memory, and other thinking tasks.
Background: - Many cigarette smokers claim that smoking improves their ability to think and concentrate, and have reported problems in thinking and concentration after quitting smoking. Some research has indicated that nicotine can enhance certain aspects of attention and memory in humans. However, more research is needed to determine how nicotine affects different elements of the brain s ability to think, pay attention, respond to rewards, and make decisions. Researchers are interested in using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study the effects of nicotine on brain function and activity. Objectives: - To determine the effects of nicotine on attentional and other thinking processes, including reward-seeking behavior. Eligibility: - Individuals between 18 and 50 years of age who are either current smokers (10 or more cigarettes per day for at least 1 year) or nonsmokers. Design: - The study has four experiments. Each experiment requires two MRI scanning sessions and a training session. Participant can do one or all of the experiments. - Participants will receive training on the types of computerized tests that will be given during the active portion of the study. Participants will also fill out questionnaires on nicotine use and other alcohol and drug use, and provide breath and urine samples. - During the test sessions, participants will have fMRI scanning while performing up to four different sets of tasks that test attention, memory, concentration, reward-seeking behavior, and decision making. Smokers will wear a nicotine patch or placebo patch during the test sessions, but will not be told which patch they are receiving. The order of these sessions will be different for individual participants. - Participants will provide blood and urine samples throughout the research study for evaluation purposes.
Background: - Cues related to past drug use induce a particular pattern of brain activation, which has been correlated with craving for cocaine in active cocaine abusers. Researchers are interested in determining the role of the brain chemical dopamine in cue-elicited as well as spontaneous craving for cocaine. - To study the role of dopamine in cocaine craving, researchers will use positron emission tomography (PET) to compare the neural reactions of cocaine users with those of non-substance-abusing healthy volunteers. Researchers hope that the data gathered from this study will lead to the development of more effective anti-craving medications. Objectives: - To clarify the role of dopamine in cue-elicited responses that contribute to cocaine abuse. - To determine if PET results of this study differ with various means of administering PET chemicals. Eligibility: - Individuals 21 to 44 years of age who are either current cocaine users (at least twice per week) or healthy volunteers without a history of drug abuse. Design: - Cocaine-using participants will enter the inpatient clinical research ward at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Addiction Research Center for 2 nights before the day of the study. In addition, these participants will stay overnight at NIDA the evening after each PET session and will be discharged the following day. Cocaine-using participants will be required to perform a balance test before the study to provide a baseline response in case they require anti-anxiety medications to cope with the effects of the study. - Control subjects will not be required to stay overnight and will arrive as outpatients for the PET session. All participants will be required to abstain from alcohol and caffeine consumption from midnight before each study session, and will not be permitted to smoke on the day of testing. - - On the day of the study, participants will undergo a practice session to set up the PET scanning equipment. Following the practice session, participants will be shown video recordings of images that are related to nature (e.g., seashells) or to drug abuse (e.g., drug paraphernalia). Participant reactions will be studied through the PET monitoring, and the study will be conducted in two separate PET sessions with a break in between. Individuals in the cocaine-using group may receive anti-anxiety medication if the stimulus cues increase anxiety related to cocaine craving. - Different groups of participants will receive different methods of PET chemical administration, and researchers will compare these methods.
Background: - Environmental cues frequently induce expectancies in individuals that may strongly influence the actual experience associated with the cue. This has both positive and negative consequences for behavior and decision making. For instance, when an addicted individual experiences cues associated with imminent drug taking, an expectancy of the coming experience is also formed and very likely has an effect on the subsequent experience of the drug. - Researchers are interested in studying how the brain responds to these kinds of environmental cues and expectancies in order to learn more about addiction and craving in substance-abusing individuals. Objectives: - To compare the response to rewards (both drug-related and non-drug-related) in cocaine users and non-using individuals. - To study the effect of expectation on reward-related (both drug-induced and non-drug-induced) responses and brain activity in cocaine users and non-using individuals. Eligibility: -Individuals between 18 and 45 years of age who are regular cocaine users but otherwise healthy, or healthy individuals who are not cocaine users. Design: - This study involves two experiments. Participants will be assigned to one or both experiments. - Participants must not use any drugs for at least 3 days before the visit, may not consume alcohol for 24 hours before the visit, and may not consume caffeinated beverages for 12 hours before the visit. On the day of the visit, participants will provide both urine and breath samples to test for drug/alcohol use. - Experiment 1: In the MRI scanner, participants will respond to questions and images on a screen, and will receive small amounts of flavored liquid (chocolate or cherry) through a tube in the mouth. - Experiment 2: In the MRI scanner, participants will respond to questions and images on a screen, and will receive injections of liquid (saline solution or a drug that provides a high similar to cocaine) through an intravenous line. Participants in this experiment will return for follow-up visits and provide urine samples for further study. - The specific assignment (to Experiment 1 or Experiment 2 or both experiments) will determine the number of study days and follow-up visits required.
Background: - The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) uses a standardized set of procedures to develop a pool of potential participants for research studies. Because some of the data collected during screening are used later for research, the screening itself is considered a study. An applicant to any NIDA study is considered a participant in NIDA screening. Objectives: - To identify, recruit, and screen participants for NIDA research protocols. Eligibility: - Individuals 18 years of age and older who are able to provide informed consent. Design: - Individuals who are eligible for screening will undergo two interviews: a telephone interview and an in-person interview. The phone interview will determine eligibility for the in-person interview. - The in-person interview may require up to five visits to NIDA. The in-person visit will involve any or all of the following procedures: (1) full physical examination and medical history; (2) psychiatric interview; (3) psychological testing; (4) electrocardiogram; (5) samples of blood, urine, and hair; and (6) other minimally invasive procedures as directed by the research staff. - During screening, a photograph will be taken for confirmation of identity during subsequent visits for other studies. - No clinical care will be provided as part of screening.
Background: - Relapse to drug abuse often happens in the presence of stimuli that are associated with previous drug use, also known as cues. Drug-taking behavior appears to be partly controlled by such cues. Some research suggests that cue-induced craving states are responsible for drug use and relapse, but other research suggests that cues can control drug taking without conscious craving or even awareness. Researchers are interested in using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study how individuals respond to drug-related cues and how these cues affect craving on a conscious or unconscious level. Objectives: - To determine how drug-related stimuli (cues) affect thinking, information processing, and body reactions in current drug users. Eligibility: - Individuals between 18 and 50 years of age who are dependent on either tobacco or crack-cocaine, or are healthy volunteers who are not dependent on either drug. Design: - The study will require two sessions, a training session and a testing session, that will take place within 48 hours of each other. Between the two test sessions, participants may not consume alcohol, tobacco, or illegal drugs, and must restrict caffeine consumption. - During the first session, participants will complete questionnaires about tobacco/cocaine use and craving, and will be trained on the tasks to be performed in the MRI scanner. - During the second session, participants will perform concentration tasks and look at pictures, some of which will be tobacco/cocaine related. Body reactions such as heart rate, pupil dilation, and sweating will be measured during this session. Some participants will have actual MRI scanning, while others will have mock MRI scanning. - After the MRI session, participants will complete questionnaires about craving and responses to the scan.