New trial for drug that could curb alcohol addiction- Varenicline

[Nucking Futs]

Hello all,

I was doing the usuall net trolling looking for ways to save the world and I came accross this article >>>>>

New trial for drug that could curb addiction

A new trial of a drug that could curb alcohol dependence will soon be underway.

An Australian researcher will next month trial a drug in humans that has been shown to reduce alcohol consumption in laboratory rats by 50 per cent.

It is believed that the drug could also help curb other addictions including smoking and gambling. The drug, which has been marketed as Chantix by Pfizer, attaches itself to receptors in the brain to block cravings.

Trials will be led by Dr Selena Bartlett, who has spoken of her concerns that big companies do not take drugs to treat addictions seriously enough. She said that as a condition, "addiction is currently one of the most under-served and least understood".

Dr Bartlett is the director of the Preclinical Development Group at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Centre at the University of California in San Francisco, one of the world's top alcohol and addiction research centres.

A recent study in the US found that the drug LY686017 may successfully reduce alcohol cravings in addicts, helping alcoholic's recovery

Article originally published on 20/02/2008.



I also found this information on LY686017 after a quick web search.

Title: NK1 Receptor Antagonism for Treatment of Anxiety and Craving in Anxious Alcohol Dependent Subjects During Early Abstinence Number: 06-AA-0129 Summary: This study will determine whether the experimental drug LY686017 can reduce a person's desire for alcohol. A brain chemical called Substance P acts at places in the brain called NK1 receptors. Substance P is released in response to stress and gives rise to behaviors that are thought to represent anxiety. LY686017 blocks Substance P from acting at the NK1 receptors. People between 21 and 65 years of age who have been drinking on a regular basis for at least one month before entering the study, who meet the criteria for alcohol dependence and who have an elevated score on a general test of anxiety may be eligible for this study.
Participants are admitted to the NIH Clinical Center for 35 days. They participate in an alcohol treatment program in addition to the research study. After having been withdrawn from alcohol for at least 2 days, participants receive either 50 mg of LY686017 or placebo (an inactive substance that looks like the study drug) every morning for 28 days. In addition to drug treatment, they undergo the following procedures:
-Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI): In the last week of the study, subjects undergo MRI to study the amount of blood going to brain structures thought to be involved in anxiety and craving. During the procedure, they look at pictures of faces exhibiting various emotions and pictures related to alcohol.
-Cure reactivity: At the beginning and towards the end of the study, subjects are asked to rate their alcohol craving and their anxiety level while they sniff and handle their favorite alcoholic beverage or water.
-Metyrapone test: During weeks 1 and 4 of the study, subjects are given metyrapone - a drug that interferes with the body's ability to make the stress hormone cortisol - to determine how LY686017 affects the body's hormonal response. The drop in cortisol from metyrapone administration causes the brain to release ACTH, a hormone that causes the adrenal gland to make cortisol.
-Trier test: In the last week of the study, subjects give a 5-minute speech to three people and are then asked to subtract numbers in their head. Then they are asked to rate their feelings and desire for alcohol on two rating scales. Blood is drawn from a saline lock at the beginning and end of the test to measure hormone levels.
-Rating scales: Subjects complete an Obsessive Drinking Scale weekly and an Alcohol Urge Questionnaire and Comprehensive Psychiatric Rating Scale twice a week.
-Blood tests: Blood samples are collected periodically to check blood chemistries, clotting time, and the amount of LY686017 in the blood.

Sponsoring Institute: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Recruitment Detail Type: Participants currently recruited/enrolled Gender: Male & Female Referral Letter Required: No Population Exclusion(s): Children
Eligibility Criteria:

INCLUSION CRITERIA:
-Age 21 - 65.
-DSM-IV diagnosis of alcohol dependence on SCID, alcohol problems as primary complaint among substance use disorder, and alcohol use within the last month.
-Spielberger trait anxiety score greater than 39.
-Females of childbearing potential must agree to use a reliable method of birth control during the study. Reliable methods of birth control include oral contraceptives or Norplant® (Registered Trademark); barrier methods such as diaphragms with contraceptive jelly, cervical caps with contraceptive jelly, condoms with contraceptive foam, or intrauterine devices; a partner with a vasectomy; or abstinence from intercourse.


EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

Subjects will be excluded if they meet any of the criteria below. The criteria for enrollment will be followed explicitly. If a subject who does not meet enrollment criteria is inadvertently enrolled, that subject will be discontinued from the study and Eli Lilly will be contacted.

General exclusion criteria for the NIAAA intramural treatment program:
-People who present with complicated medical problems requiring intensive medical or diagnostic management, such as hypertensive emergency, serious GI bleeding, major organ or body system dysfunction such as decompensated liver disease, renal failure, myocardial ischemia, congestive heart failure or cerebrovascular disease, major endocrine problems such as uncontrolled diabetes, pancreatic or thyroid disease.
-People who are infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
-Serious neuro-psychiatric conditions which impair judgment or cognitive function to an extent that precludes them from providing informed consent or complying with treatment, such as psychotic illness or severe dementia (incompetent individuals).
-People who are unlikely or unable to complete the treatment program because they become or are likely to be incarcerated while on the protocol.
-People who are required to receive treatment by a court of law or who are involuntarily committed to treatment.
-People with uncontrolled hypertension

Study specific exclusion criteria:
-People who are investigator site personnel directly affiliated with this study and/or their immediate families. Immediate family is defined as a spouse, parent, child or sibling, whether biological or legally adopted.
-People who are employees of Eli Lilly & Co.
-Treatment within the last 30 days with a drug [not including study drug] that has not received regulatory approval for any indication at the time of study entry.
-A history of seizures, other than documented febrile seizures
-Patients with clinically significant hepatobiliary disease (as evaluated by a trained hepatologist) will be excluded from the protocol
-Pregnancy or lactation (negative pregnancy test required)
-Regular use of psychotropic medication (antidepressant, lithium, antipsychotic, anxiolytic, antiepileptic) within last 4 weeks, with the exception of benzodiazepines administered within the NIAAA program as part of alcohol withdrawal treatment.
-Inability or unwillingness to participate in an fMRI scan, including presence of metallic objects in the body, or pronounced claustrophobia
-Hypopituitarism or reduced adrenal secretory activity because of the risk of precipitating acute adrenal failure with metyrapone.
-Porphyria because metyrapone may be porphyrinogenic based on data from in-vitro systems.
-Thyroid dysfunction, which may alter the response to metyrapone.

Special Instructions:

Currently Not Provided

Keywords: Anxiety Alcohol Dependence Recruitment Keywords: Alcohol Dependence Alcoholism Condition: Alcohol Dependence Alcoholism Investigational Drug: LY686017 Investigational Device: None Intervention: Drug: LY686017.

This looks very promising to me. It could also if succesfull help improve the lifestyle of millions, and posibly pave the way to drug clasification reform.



If you or any one you know are affected by alcoholism or any other kind of drug addiction then please don't hesitate to PM me and I will see if I can find a rehab center in your area.



Regards,



ME.

Reputation Comments on this post:

For the rehab centre post-whoring

[x cynic x]

My ma took Chantix to stop smoking, it was really varenicline, but she said that she stopped taking it because it made her feel like killing somebody. On the contrary, her friend told her it worked very effectively in kicking her addiction. My aardvark tried a mg out of curiousity and said it felt similar to a prolonged nicotine buzz, only good for energy in the morning.

[~lostgurl~]

See: The Combined Chantix /Champix (Varenicline) Thread

I can't see it working that well with alcohol addiction, apart from the fact that when my gurl increased the dose to 1mg twice daily she found the interaction with alcohol caused some very unpleasant side effects for a few days. Interesting though, as I thought this drug only worked on the nicotine receptors in the brain but this article implies it to work on dopamine also.