Ghrelin for Alcohol Use in Non-Treatment-Seeking Heavy Drinkers
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT01779024. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.
Data is sourced from official ClinicalTrials.gov public API records. Always review the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for the latest information.
Official title
Effects of Ghrelin on Alcohol Administration in Non-Treatment Seeking Heavy Drinkers
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
Background: \- Ghrelin is a hormone in the human body that is mostly produced by the stomach. It makes people feel hungry, and also is connected with the desire to drink alcohol. Researchers want to test ghrelin to see if it can be used to control alcohol cravings and use. They will compare doses of ghrelin with a placebo in people who drink heavily. Objectives: \- To study the effects of ghrelin on alcohol craving and use. Eligibility: * Individuals between 21 and 60 years of age who are heavy drinkers but are not seeking treatment for alcohol use. * Participants must on average have more than 20 drinks per week for men, and more than 15 drinks per week for women. Design: * Participants will have a screening visit, four 2-night study visits, and a follow-up visit. * Participants will be screened with a physical exam and medical history. They will provide urine and breath samples for drug testing. They will also answer questions about mood and physical symptoms, and about alcohol and other cravings. * At the study visits, participants will stay overnight at the National Institutes of Health clinical center. They will spend the night at the center, have tests on the next day, and go home on the following morning. At each visit, participants will receive a ghrelin or placebo infusion, and will complete a series of tasks. * For the first and second study visits, participants will have tests of alcohol craving and use. They will be able to receive alcohol infusions through a computer program that tests response time and craving reactions. At the same time, they will have a ghrelin or a placebo infusion. Blood alcohol levels, reaction time, and craving will be studied. * For the third and fourth study visits, participants will have a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study. They will have an initial MRI to provide a picture of the brain. They will then have a functional MRI during which they will respond to a computer test. The test will allow them to win points for snack food or alcohol. This test will look at the brain s response time and craving reactions. * There will be a follow-up visit 1 week after the fourth study visit. Some of the tests from the screening visit will be repeated.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT01779024
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase 2
- Enrollment
- 17 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 21 Years to 60 Years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepts healthy volunteers
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- Dec 12, 2012
- Primary completion
- May 31, 2017
- Completion
- May 31, 2017
- Last update posted
- Aug 2, 2018
2012 – 2017
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, 9000 Rockville Pike | Bethesda | Maryland | 20892 | — |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT01779024, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted Aug 2, 2018 · Synced Sep 7, 2026
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Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT01779024 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.