Varenicline vs Placebo for the Treatment of Methamphetamine Dependence
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2010-05-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Methamphetamine (MA) abuse is the fastest growing drug problem in the United States and is
responsible for significant public health complications, including HIV infection. As a result
effective treatments for MA dependence are urgently needed. There are currently no
efficacious medications for MA dependence, although results from preliminary randomized
trials of bupropion for MA dependence found bupropion to be more effective than placebo, but
only among subgroups of participants, including those with lower frequency of MA use at
baseline. A growing body of preclinical and clinical studies suggest that cholinergic
mechanisms play an important role in the neurobiology of MA and other stimulant dependence,
such as nicotine dependence. Mechanistically, cholinergic medications may alleviate
MA-associated cognitive dysfunction, thereby improving outcomes of treatment for MA
dependence. Varenicline is a partial agonist at α4β2 nicotinic receptors and a full agonist
at α7 nicotinic receptors that has been approved as an anti-cigarette smoking medication. In
order to assess the potential efficacy of varenicline for methamphetamine dependence, we will
perform a clinical trial to assess if varenicline compared to placebo results in greater:
1. reductions in methamphetamine use;
2. treatment retention;