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NCT03953612

The Role of Neuroactive Steroids in Stress, Drug Craving and Drug Use in Cocaine Use Disorders

Completed EARLY_PHASE1 Results posted Last updated 3 July 2024
What this trial tests

EARLY_PHASE1 trial testing Pregnenolone (PREG) in Cocaine-Related Disorders in 58 participants. Completed in 8 May 2023.

Timeline
12 March 2019
Primary endpoint
8 May 2023
8 May 2023

Quick facts

Lead sponsorYale University
PhaseEARLY_PHASE1
StatusCompleted
Study typeINTERVENTIONAL
Allocationrandomized
Designparallel
Maskingsingle
Primary purposetreatment
Enrollment58
Start date12 March 2019
Primary completion8 May 2023
Estimated completion8 May 2023
Sites1 location across United States

Drugs / interventions tested

Conditions studied

Sponsor

Yale University

Who can join

Adults 18 to 60, any sex, with Cocaine-Related Disorders. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Results — posted to ClinicalTrials.gov

Per-arm endpoint measurements with 95% confidence intervals where reported. Source: trial results section.

Craving Change in Stress and Cue Relative to Neutral Primary · Experiment during treatment week 2

Cocaine craving assessed in a laboratory experiment with exposure to stress, cocaine cue and neutral control condition in those receiving PREG (300mg; 500mg) vs Placebo. Cocaine craving was assessed using the Cocaine Craving Questionnaire (CCQ), a brief 10-item self-report craving scale that ranges in mean score from 1 to 7, where a higher score indicates higher craving. Data presented here is craving change in stress relative to neutral and craving change in cue relative to neutral, where the possible range in mean change score is -6 to +6.

Stress Craving Change
GroupValue95% CI
PREG 300 mg/Day3.035± 1.34
PREG 500 mg/Day-0.486± 1.153
Patients Receiving Placebo3.959± 1.115
Cue Craving Change
GroupValue95% CI
PREG 300 mg/Day0.031± 1.313
PREG 500 mg/Day-1.775± 1.126
Patients Receiving Placebo4.835± 1.118
Anxiety Change in Stress and Cue Relative to Neutral Secondary · Experiment during treatment week 2

Anxiety assessed in laboratory experiment with exposure to stress, cocaine cue and neutral control condition in participants receiving PREG (300mg; 500mg) vs. Placebo treatment. Anxiety was assessed using a 10-point visual analog scale (VAS) in which 0="not at all" and 10="extremely high", with the mean score ranging from 0 to 10, and where higher score means higher anxiety. Data presented here is anxiety change in stress relative to neutral and anxiety change in cue relative to neutral, where the possible range in mean change score is -10 to +10.

Stress Anxiety Change
GroupValue95% CI
PREG 300 mg/Day0.757± 0.309
PREG 500 mg/Day0.118± 0.269
Patients Receiving Placebo1.334± 0.263
Cue Anxiety Change
GroupValue95% CI
PREG 300 mg/Day-0.305± 0.302
PREG 500 mg/Day0.199± 0.261
Patients Receiving Placebo0.959± 0.265
Cortisol Level Change in Stress and Cue Relative to Neutral Secondary · Experiment during treatment week 2

Plasma was collected at each laboratory session to measure cortisol level and assess change in cortisol response to stress and cocaine cue relative neutral imagery condition exposure. Data presented here are change in cortisol level (mg/dl) in stress relative to neutral condition and cue relative to neutral condition.

Stress Cortisol Level Change
GroupValue95% CI
PREG 300 mg/Day-0.3± 0.55
PREG 500 mg/Day-0.52± 0.64
Patients Receiving Placebo0.71± 0.9
Cue Cortisol Level Change
GroupValue95% CI
PREG 300 mg/Day0± 0.45
PREG 500 mg/Day-0.07± 0.73
Patients Receiving Placebo0.58± 0.67
Pregnenolone Concentration Secondary · between weeks 2-3 of treatment

Blood plasma concentration of pregnenolone in two doses of PREG (300mg; 500mg), and matching placebo, assessed over a 24 hour period.

GroupValue95% CI
PREG 300 mg/Day1.09± 0.194
PREG 500 mg/Day1.54± 0.147
Patients Receiving Placebo0.5± 0.146
Cocaine Dollar Amount During Trial Period Secondary · up to 8 weeks

Mean dollar amount of cocaine per use day was assessed by daily self report on the Timeline Followback Substance Use Calendar and corroborated by daily self-reporting on smartphone (measurement unit in dollars).

GroupValue95% CI
PREG 300 mg/Day12.3± 17.57
PREG 500 mg/Day26.44± 20.59
Patients Receiving Placebo28.28± 43.99
Mean Percent Cocaine Days Secondary · up to 8 weeks

The mean percent cocaine days as assessed by self report on daily smartphone monitoring and corroborated by the Timeline Followback Substance Use Calendar over the 8 week period.

GroupValue95% CI
PREG 300 mg/Day19.9± 20.46
PREG 500 mg/Day35.12± 20.05
Patients Receiving Placebo28.61± 26.19

Adverse events — posted to ClinicalTrials.gov

Time frame: up to 8 weeks. Reporting threshold: 5%. Adverse-event reports describe events observed during the trial — not all are caused by the drug.

PREG 300 mg/Day
Serious: 1/20 (5%)
Deaths: 0/20
PREG 500 mg/Day
Serious: 0/17 (0%)
Deaths: 0/17
Patients Receiving Placebo
Serious: 0/18 (0%)
Deaths: 0/18

Serious adverse events (1 terms)

ReactionSystemPREG 300 mg/DayPREG 500 mg/DayPatients Receiving Placebo
DizzinessNervous system disorders
Other adverse events (9 terms — click to expand)

ReactionSystemPREG 300 mg/DayPREG 500 mg/DayPatients Receiving Placebo
Injury/PainGeneral disorders
HeadacheNervous system disorders
Infection/Immune SystemGeneral disorders
Psychiatric disorders - Other, specifyPsychiatric disorders
Gastrointestinal disorders - Other, specifyGastrointestinal disorders
Inflammation/AllergyGeneral disorders
Suicidal ThoughtsPsychiatric disorders
LightheadednessNervous system disorders
FatigueGeneral disorders

Most-reported serious reactions: Dizziness.

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03953612 adverse events section.

Sponsor's own description

To use pregnenolone (PREG; 300; 500mg) daily versus placebo (PLA) as a probe to assess the role of neuroactive steroids in individuals with cocaine use disorder (CUD).

Publications & conference data

No peer-reviewed publications indexed yet for this trial. Completed trials usually publish results within 12-18 months.

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Primary sources · FDA · ClinicalTrials.gov · EMA · SEC EDGAR · ChEMBL · Wikidata · full sourcing