Cocaine Dependence — Clavulanic Acid (CLAV) and Cocaine Interaction Safety Study
Citation(s)
Kovalevich J, Corley G, Yen W, Rawls SM, Langford D Cocaine-induced loss of white matter proteins in the adult mouse nucleus accumbens is attenuated by administration of a beta-lactam antibiotic during cocaine withdrawal. Am J Pathol. 2012 Dec;181(6):1921-7. doi: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2012.08.013. Epub 2012 Sep 29.
Rasmussen BA, Baron DA, Kim JK, Unterwald EM, Rawls SM beta-Lactam antibiotic produces a sustained reduction in extracellular glutamate in the nucleus accumbens of rats. Amino Acids. 2011 Feb;40(2):761-4. doi: 10.1007/s00726-010-0589-0. Epub 2010 Apr 13.
Uys JD, LaLumiere RT Glutamate: the new frontier in pharmacotherapy for cocaine addiction. CNS Neurol Disord Drug Targets. 2008 Nov;7(5):482-91. doi: 10.2174/187152708786927868.
Interventional studies are often prospective and are specifically tailored to evaluate direct impacts of treatment or preventive measures on disease.
Observational studies are often retrospective and are used to assess potential causation in exposure-outcome relationships and therefore influence preventive methods.
Expanded access is a means by which manufacturers make investigational new drugs available, under certain circumstances, to treat a patient(s) with a serious disease or condition who cannot participate in a controlled clinical trial.
Clinical trials are conducted in a series of steps, called phases - each phase is designed to answer a separate research question.
Phase 1: Researchers test a new drug or treatment in a small group of people for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects.
Phase 2: The drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety.
Phase 3: The drug or treatment is given to large groups of people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely.
Phase 4: Studies are done after the drug or treatment has been marketed to gather information on the drug's effect in various populations and any side effects associated with long-term use.
