Oxytocin Treatment of Alcohol Dependence — OTS ETOH-3  

Alcohol Dependence Clinical Trial

Official title: Oxytocin Treatment of Alcohol Dependence: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

Purpose: Test whether oxytocin treatment decreases symptoms of withdrawal from alcohol and decreases drinking in people who have been consuming alcohol heavily for long periods and are physically and psychologically dependent on (addicted to) alcohol.

Participants: 50 adults with alcohol dependence

Procedures (methods): Oxytocin or placebo will be administered three times a day for the first 2 days of the 12 week period, followed by twice daily intranasal sprays for the rest of the 12 weeks. Before, during and at the end of the trial, each subject will undergo evaluations including breathalyzer readings, rating withdrawal symptoms, interviews about amount of alcohol consumed since last clinic visit, subject self-ratings of anxiety, alcohol craving and, at some visits, laboratory measures (blood and urine) to monitor safety and alcohol/drug use. Following the active phase of the trial, subjects will be followed up at 4 weeks and 12 weeks to evaluate for post-medication safety and efficacy

Clinical Trial Description

The purpose of this research study is to learn whether oxytocin treatment decreases drinking in people who have been consuming alcohol heavily for long periods and are unable to stop drinking on their own. Oxytocin is made naturally and is released in parts of the brain where it acts like a chemical signal from one cell to another. Oxytocin is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for stimulating labor in pregnant women but is not approved as a treatment to decrease alcohol drinking.

People who drink large amounts of alcohol every day or many days per week for weeks or months undergo chemical changes in their brains. Patients continue to drink frequently and heavily because, even though patients may know drinking is not good for their health, patients have unpleasant experiences if they stop or decrease drinking. Those experiences can include increased anxiety, difficulty sleeping, difficulty tolerating stress, mild to moderate withdrawal symptoms such as tremors, nausea, feeling sweaty and/or headaches, and cravings to drink. Studies have shown that giving oxytocin to alcohol-addicted animals diminished drinking after they had been denied access to alcohol for a while and reduced symptoms when they were put into alcohol withdrawal. A pilot study conducted at UNC found that oxytocin treatment decreased withdrawal symptoms in heavy drinkers who were admitted to a hospital for medical treatment to come off alcohol.

This study will test whether oxytocin treatment for 12 weeks starting shortly after subjects' discharge from Freedom House or UNC Hospitals or after patients are evaluated during an outpatient clinic visit will decrease how much patients drink as well as patients desire to drink and patients anxiety. After study medications are stopped, the amount of drinking, desire to drink and anxiety will be assessed over an additional 12-week period.

Patients are being asked to participate in this study because they have been drinking large amounts of alcohol frequently and want help to stop or cut back on their drinking. Patients may receive oxytocin or placebo in this study as an intranasal spray. The placebo contains all of the ingredients of the oxytocin spray EXCEPT oxytocin, the active ingredient. Patients' assignment to oxytocin or placebo treatment will be random (like a flip of a coin).

Patients must sign this consent form to take part in this study. Patients participation in the study will last up to 25-26 weeks. If Patients are recruited while they are an inpatient at Freedom House or UNC Hospitals, the duration of their participation will extend over the remaining days they are an inpatient, an initial clinic visit shortly after they are discharged when they will start taking the intranasal test treatment, a 12-week period during which they will take the intranasal study medication each day at home and attend 8 clinic visits and a final 12-week period after stopping medication during which they will attend clinic visits at the 4 and 12-week time points. If patients are not an inpatient and are recruited during an initial outpatient clinic visit, they will attend another clinic visit to start the intranasal study medication and then take the intranasal test treatment each day at home and attend 8 additional clinic visits over a 12 week period and then attend 2 additional clinic visits at 4 and 12 weeks after stopping the intranasal medication. Each clinic visit will last 1-2 hours.

If patients are an inpatient at Freedom House or UNC Hospitals, they will undergo an evaluation toward the end of their admission to determine if they are eligible to participate in the study. If patients are not an inpatient, they will undergo an evaluation during an initial outpatient clinic visit. Patients must have no alcohol in their blood (Breathalyzer reading of zero) when they read the consent form and when they undergo the initial evaluation. Patients' Breathalyzer readings must be less than 0.08 at each subsequent clinic visit for evaluations to be conducted. If patients' Breathalyzer readings are equal to or greater than 0.08, patients will not drive themselves home and they will accept assistance from a friend, relative or cab driver in getting back home in a safe manner. Patients will sign the Breath Alcohol Policy agreeing to abide by these rules when they are first evaluated as an inpatient or at an initial outpatient clinic visit.

Procedures if patients are evaluated toward the end of an admission to Freedom House or UNC Hospitals

• Patients will be interviewed about their medical and psychiatric history, whether they have ever had alcohol withdrawal, especially bad withdrawal (delirium tremens, seizures, hallucination), as well as about how much patients drank during the 90 days before they were admitted and their use of other drugs.

• Patients will complete questionnaires about drinking by members of their family, how much of a problem patients think their drinking has been for patients, and their understanding of the consequences of their drinking.

Procedures (in addition to those above) if patients are evaluated during an initial outpatient clinic visit

• Patients will take a Breathalyzer test to determine the concentration of alcohol in their blood.

• The severity of withdrawal symptoms that patients may be experiencing will be measured based on their vital signs (blood pressure, heart rate) and ratings of symptoms using the CIWA scale.

• Patients urine will be tested to see if they take street or illegal drugs. If patients test positive, investigators will keep this data confidential unless investigators are required by law to disclose the data.

• Patients will have blood (15 ml or about 1 tablespoon) and urine samples taken for laboratory tests and, if patients are women, to determine if they are pregnant.

• Patients will have a physical examination by a study doctor. If the results of the evaluation show patients are eligible to participate, patients will be randomly assigned (like the flip of a coin) to receive either oxytocin or placebo intranasal spray. Members of the researcher staff will instruct patients in how to self-administer intranasal spray doses from a spray bottle. If patients are an inpatient at Freedom House or UNC Hospitals, they will take their first intranasal test dose during a clinic visit scheduled a few days after they are discharged. If patients are not an inpatient, patients will take their first intranasal test dose during a clinic visit scheduled shortly after this screening visit. Patients will then take an intranasal spray bottle home with them and continue to self-administer intranasal test doses three time each day (at approximately breakfast, lunch and dinner time) for two days and thereafter will take intranasal test doses twice each day (at approximately breakfast and dinner time). Each dose will be 6 sprays into their nose (3 per nostril). Neither patients nor the research staff or nurses will know whether patients are taking oxytocin or placebo nasal spray.

During the clinic visit when patients take their first intranasal test dose and at each of the following clinic visits while taking study medication, patients will have a Medical Management session (special talk therapy for alcohol dependence) with the study doctor before patients are discharged.

Follow-up outpatient clinic visits after the visit when patients take their first intranasal test dose will take place at UNC Hospitals or at the Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program Clinic at Timberlyne Mall. Patients will come in weekly for the first four weeks, then every other week for the next eight weeks (8 total visits) while taking study medications. Patients will also come to an outpatient clinic visit 4 and 8 weeks after stopping the study medications.

Procedures at outpatient clinic visits (each 1-2 hours long)

• Patients will undergo a Breathalyzer test to measure the concentration of alcohol in their blood.

• Study staff will interview patients about how much they have been drinking since the last clinic visit.

• Patients will complete questionnaires about their alcohol cravings, anxiety and depression.

• Vital signs and CIWA (alcohol withdrawal symptom) scores will be measured.

• At the week 4, 8, and 12 clinic visits while patients are taking intranasal study medications, patients will give blood (15 ml or about 1 tablespoon) and urine samples for laboratory tests, pregnancy tests (for women participants), and to see if they are taking street or illegal drugs.

• At the final clinic visit while taking study medication (week 12), patients will again complete a questionnaire about their understanding of the consequences of their drinking.

Other procedures throughout the 12-week test treatment portion of the study During the 12-week test treatment part of the study, patients will take the intranasal study medication three times per day for the first two days (at approximately breakfast, lunch and dinner time) and then twice daily (at approximately breakfast and dinner time). Patients will receive a new bottle of intranasal spray every 2 weeks. Patients must bring the intranasal spray bottle they have been using to clinic appointments. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Alcohol Dependence
• Alcohol Withdrawal
• Alcoholism

• NCT number: NCT02251912
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 2
• Start date: July 2015
• Completion date: September 2016