Memantine Treatment Study of Pathological Gambling

Yale University29 enrolled

Overview

The goal of the proposed study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the drug memantine in individuals with pathological gambling (PG). Thirty subjects with DSM-IV PG will receive 10 weeks of open-label treatment with memantine. The hypothesis to be tested is that memantine will be effective and well tolerated in patients with PG. We hypothesize that memantine will reduce the severity of gambling symptoms and improve patients' overall functioning. This study will provide needed data on the treatment of a disabling disorder that currently lacks a clearly effective treatment.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Pathological Gambling

Interventions

Memantine HydrochlorideDRUG

10 mg/day for two weeks, dose increase to 20 mg at week 3, 30 mg at week 4 unless clinical improvement is achieved with a lower dose. Total treatment is 10 weeks.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 21 YearsMax age: 75 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Clinical diagnosis of Pathological Gambling using the clinician-administered Structured Clinical Interview for Pathological Gambling (SCI-PG) (Grant et al., 2004); * Gambling behavior within 2 weeks prior to enrollment; * For women, negative results on a urine pregnancy test and stable use of a medically accepted form of contraception. Exclusion Criteria: * Infrequent gambling (i.e. less than one time per week) that does not meet DSM-IV criteria for PG; * Unstable medical illness or clinically significant abnormalities on laboratory tests, EKG, or physical examination at screen; * History of seizures; * Myocardial infarction within 6 months; * Current pregnancy or lactation, or inadequate contraception in women of childbearing potential; * A need for medication other than memantine with possible psychotropic effects or unfavorable interactions; * Clinically significant suicidality; * Current Axis I disorder determined by the SCID and SCID-compatible modules for impulse control disorders (Grant et al., 2005), except for nicotine dependence; * Lifetime history of bipolar disorder type I or II, dementia, schizophrenia, or any psychotic disorder determined by SCID; * Current or recent (past 3 months) DSM-IV substance abuse or dependence; * Positive urine drug screen at screening; * Initiation of psychotherapy or behavior therapy within 3 months prior to study baseline; * Previous treatment with memantine; * Treatment with investigational medication or depot neuroleptics within 3 months, with fluoxetine within 6 weeks, or with other psychotropics within 2 weeks prior to study baseline.

Locations (2)

Yale University School of Medicine

New Haven, Connecticut, United States

University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale Modified for Pathological Gambling (PG-YBOCS)

The PGYBOCS is a reliable \& valid, 10-item, clinician administered scale that rates gambling symptoms within the last 7 days. The first 5 questions assess urges and thoughts associated with pathological gambling, and the last 5 questions assess the behavioral component of the disorder. Scores of 0 through 4 are assigned each item according to the severity of the response (0 = least severe response or none, 4 = most severe response or extreme)with a score ranging from 0-40. Each set of questions (1-5 and 6-10) can be totaled separately for the component score (urges/thoughts and behavioral) as well as together for a total score. A score of 0 indicates no problems while increasing scores indicate increasing severity of problems with gambling. PG-YBOCS is used to measure changes across time. A decreasing score indicates a possible positive response to the intervention. Total score at baseline was compared with the study end to determine if the intervention was efficacious.

Time frame: Baseline to study end point (10 weeks)

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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