The purpose of this study is to explore the use of d-cycloserine (DCS) to facilitate extinction of response to cocaine cues in cocaine-dependent individuals, in hopes that it may lead to the development of new treatment options for cocaine dependence.
Cocaine dependence remains a serious problem in the United States today and in spite of two decades of intense research, efficacious pharmacotherapeutic treatments have not been identified. Cocaine-associated environmental cues can elicit drug craving and exposure to cocaine-related cues is likely to be involved in relapse. Emerging data supports the role of glutamate in extinction learning. D-cycloserine (DCS), a partial glutamate agonist, facilitates extinction of associative learning in animal models of fear-conditioning and clinical studies of exposure treatment for anxiety disorders. A recent study demonstrated DCS acceleration of extinction of cocaine-induced conditioned place preference in rats (Botreau et al., 2006). Exploration of DCS in facilitating extinction of response to drug-related cues in humans is needed. The proposed study will extend these innovative and promising findings from the basic science arena and anxiety disorders field in a proof of concept investigation of DCS facilitation of extinction of response to cocaine-related cues in a human laboratory paradigm. In addition, to examine the neural substrates of extinction learning, a sub-set of individuals that are willing and eligible will undergo fMRI scanning procedures before and after the extinction protocol.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
TRIPLE
Enrollment
79
50 mg d-cycloserine or placebo taken orally
Medical University of South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina, United States
Behavioral Health Services of Pickens County
Pickens, South Carolina, United States
Subjective Craving of Cocaine
Average of participants' subjective measures of craving immediately following cue exposure at the one-week follow-up session. Participants rated craving on a 10 point analog scale ranging from 0 (not at all) to 10 (extremely).
Time frame: two weeks
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