Oxytocin to Enhance Alcohol Behavioral Couple Therapy (ABCT)

• Status: Recruiting
• Trial end date: 2023-06-01
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

Alcohol Behavioral Couples Therapy (ABCT) is a manualized 12-session, weekly psychosocial intervention that simultaneously reduces alcohol use disorder (AUD) severity and improves relationship functioning. However, there remains room to improve ABCT outcomes. A growing literature suggests that intranasal oxytocin is a medication that holds promise to achieve that goal. Oxytocin has demonstrated the ability to increase prosocial behavior (e.g., trust, safety, social cognition) and restore sensitivity to natural rewards such as interpersonal relationships that are commonly eroded in the context of addiction. Oxytocin has also demonstrated the ability to reduce substance use behaviors (e.g., craving, self-administration, tolerance, withdrawal), and improves the neurobiological foundations of AUD. The primary objective of this Stage II study is to test the efficacy of oxytocin versus placebo in improving (1) AUD symptom severity, (2) relationship functioning, and (3) corticolimbic connectivity among couples receiving ABCT therapy.

• Phase: Phase 2
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: No

Details

• Lead Sponsor: Medical University of South Carolina
• Collaborator: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
• Treatments: Ethanol; Oxytocin

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Male or female; any race or ethnicity; aged 18-75 years.

2. Able to provide informed consent and function at an intellectual level sufficient to allow accurate completion of the assessment instruments (> 26 on the Mini-Mental State Exam).

3. Married, cohabiting for ≥ 6 months, or in a committed relationship of at least 1-year duration.

4. ≥1 hazardous drinking episode in past 60 days by IP.

5. Identified Patients (IPs) must meet DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for current (i.e., past 6 months) alcohol use disorder (assessed via the MINI). Couples in which both partners meet diagnostic criteria for current AUD are eligible for participation.

6. Concurrent substance use disorders (e.g., marijuana) are acceptable provided that alcohol is the IP's primary substance of choice.

7. Participants taking psychotropic medications will be required to be maintained on a stable dose for at least four weeks before study initiation. This is because initiation or change of psychotropic medications during the course of the trial may interfere with interpretation of results.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Meeting DSM-5 criteria for a history of or current psychotic or bipolar affective disorders, or with current suicidal or homicidal ideation and intent. Those individuals will be referred clinically for treatment.

2. Participants who present a serious suicide risk or are likely to require hospitalization during the study.

3. History of seizures and/or seizure disorder

4. Severe unilateral intimate partner violence in the past 6 months as defined by the CTS-2.

5. Pregnancy or breastfeeding

6. Acute alcohol withdrawal as indicated by CIWA-Ar scores >8. They may be re-assessed once they are no longer in withdrawal. Those individuals will be referred for medically supervised detoxification.

7. Any unstable or serious medical condition affecting the potential participants' ability to participate in the study

8. Individuals with claustrophobia; tattoos above the shoulders; permanent eyeliner or permanent artificial eyebrows; cardiac pacemaker; metal fragments in eye, skin, or body, including shrapnel; heart valve replacement; brain clips; venous umbrella; current or former sheet-metal worker or welder; lifetime history of aneurysm surgery; lifetime history of seizures and/or epilepsy; intracranial bypass, renal, or aortic clips; prosthetic devices such as middle ear, eye, joint, or penile implants; joint replacements; non-removable hearing aid, neurostimulator, or insulin pump; shunts/stents; metal mesh/coil implants; metal plate/pin/screws/wires; or any other MRI contraindications as determined by the MRI technician at the time of scanning will not be eligible to participate in the neuroimaging component of the study, however individuals who meet inclusion/exclusion criteria for the medication component of the study but not the MRI portion will still be eligible to reenroll in and complete the medication/treatment phase.