Effects of Prazosin on the Attention-Enhancing Effects of Nicotine

• Status: Withdrawn
• Trial end date: 2019-01-01
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

To test whether specific aspects of the attention-enhancing effects of nicotine may be mediated by down-stream activation of alpha1 adrenoceptors, the interaction of nicotine and the alpha1 adrenergic antagonist prazosin on cognitive task performance will be tested in human non-smokers. The effects of a low-dose nicotine patch vs. a placebo patch will be tested in the presence and absence of prazosin over 4 test sessions.

• Phase: N/A
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Details

• Lead Sponsor: University of Maryland; University of Maryland, Baltimore
• Treatments: Nicotine; Prazosin

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Aged 21 to 55 years.

• Smoked no more that 40 cigarettes, cigars or cigarillos in lifetime.

• Smoked no cigarettes, cigars or cigarillos in the last year.

• No exposure to any nicotine-containing product in the last month.

• Normal or corrected to normal vision (at least 20/80).

Exclusion Criteria:

• Pregnant or breast-feeding.

• Drug or alcohol abuse or dependence currently or in the last 2 years.

• DSM Axis I mood, anxiety or psychotic disorder.

• Cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease.

• Hypertension (resting systolic BP above 150 or diastolic above 95 mm Hg).

• Hypotension (resting systolic BP below 90 or diastolic below 60).

• Bradycardia (heart rate <60 bpm).

• Impaired liver or kidney function.

• Severe asthma.

• Obstructive pulmonary disease.

• Type I diabetes.

• Use of any centrally active medications.

• Use of any cardiovascular drugs, including blood pressure medications and antiarrhythmics.

• Use of diuretic medication.

• History of or current neurological illnesses, such as stroke, seizure disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, or organic brain syndrome.

• Learning disability, mental retardation, or any other condition that impedes cognition.

• Planned eye surgery.

• Inability to perform the Rapid Visual Information Processing Task.

• Known hypersensitivity to prazosin, any quinazolines, or nicotine.

• Narcolepsy.