Pilot Human Lab Study of Lacosamide in Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD)

• Status: Completed
• Trial end date: 2019-06-12
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: Male

Summary

The overall goal of the proposed project is to improve the treatment of individuals with AUD. The investigators will conduct the first pilot human laboratory study to assess the effects of two doses of lacosamide on alcohol drinking and craving. The investigators will assess its effects on reducing alcohol intake using a human laboratory method, the Yale Alcohol Drinking Paradigm (ADP). The investigators will also assess the feasibility of the Alcohol Drinking Paradigm (ADP) in order to position our research team to have the capacity to conduct future, larger, hypothesis-testing human laboratory-based experiments designed to test the efficacy of potential alcohol treatments.

• Phase: Phase 2
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Details

• Lead Sponsor: University of California, San Francisco
• Collaborator: San Francisco VA Health Care System
• Treatments: Ethanol; Lacosamide

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Men, ages 21-50;

2. Able to read English and to complete study evaluations;

3. Meet DSM-V criteria for current alcohol use disorder (AUD);

4. Average weekly alcohol use of 25-70 standard drinks for men over the past 30 days;

5. No more than 3 days/week of alcohol abstinence in the past 30 days, to maximize likelihood that participants will choose to drink during the laboratory sessions.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Individuals who are seeking AUD treatment or have been in treatment within the past 6 months;

2. Current DSM-V non-alcohol use disorder other than tobacco or cannabis;

3. Positive urine drug test results at more than one baseline appointment for opioids, cocaine, benzodiazepines or barbiturates;

4. Regular use of psychoactive drugs including antipsychotics, anxiolytics and antidepressants during the 30 days prior to entry, as well as anticonvulsants, beta blockers, central nervous system stimulants or depressants, or other drugs that cause excessive sedation;

5. Taking medications that may interact with lacosamide, e.g. medications that prolong the ECG PR interval, or medications with strong CYP3A4 and CYP2C9;

6. Psychosis or any other serious mental illness as judged by SCID and study physician assessment;

7. Medical conditions that in the judgment of the study physician contraindicate the consumption of alcohol;

8. Medical conditions that in the judgment of the study physician contraindicate LAC (non contraindications listed in the FDA-approved Prescribing Information for LAC);

9. Any other medical conditions that in the opinion of the study physician would make study participation hazardous;

10. History of serious alcohol withdrawal (e.g. seizures, DTs, hospitalization) or a Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment Scale (CIWA-AD) score greater than or equal to 8;

11. Participants who report disliking spirits will be excluded because 80 proof liquor will be provided during the alcohol self-administration periods;

12. Participants who have taken any investigational drug within 4 weeks preceding study entry;

13. Participants with first-degree atrioventricular block (AV block), PR interval lengthened beyond 0.20 seconds or greater.