Behavioral Effects of Drugs (Inpatient): 43 (Opioids, Cocaine, n-Acetylcysteine)
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT05610072. 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
Glutamatergic Mechanisms in Opioid and Cocaine Co-Use
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
The overarching hypotheses of this protocol are that (1) persistent brain glutamate changes induced by chronic opioid use will exacerbate use of cocaine during opioid physical dependence and withdrawal and (2) n-acetylcysteine (NAC) will ameliorate glutamatergic dysregulation, and thus will reduce both opioid and cocaine demand. These hypotheses will be tested with two specific aims. Specific Aim 1. Determine the reinforcing effects of cocaine in individuals with comorbid opioid and cocaine use disorder with physiological dependence on opioids during NAC maintenance. All subjects will be maintained on oral hydromorphone. They will also be randomly assigned to receive placebo or oral NAC (2.4 g/day), stratified by sex. After dose stabilization, experimental sessions will be conducted in which subjects complete hypothetical cocaine purchase tasks during opioid maintenance and opioid withdrawal. The hypotheses are: 1) cocaine purchasing will be greater during opioid withdrawal and 2) NAC maintenance will attenuate cocaine purchasing across opioid maintenance and withdrawal periods. Specific Aim 2. Evaluate glutamate functionality during periods of opioid maintenance and withdrawal in individuals with comorbid opioid and cocaine use disorder and physiological dependence on opioids during NAC maintenance. Subjects will undergo magnetic resonance spectroscopy to evaluate brain glutamate changes as a function of opioid maintenance/withdrawal state and NAC maintenance. The hypotheses are: 1) glutamate levels will be elevated during opioid withdrawal and 2) NAC maintenance will ameliorate elevated glutamate levels.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT05610072
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Early Phase 1
- Enrollment
- 12 participants
Conditions and interventions
Interventions
- n-acetylcysteine Drug
- Hydromorphone Drug
- Placebo n-acetylcystine Drug
- Placebo hydromorphone Drug
Drug
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 18 Years to 55 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 14, 2022
- Primary completion
- Mar 26, 2026
- Completion
- Mar 26, 2026
- Last update posted
- May 4, 2026
2022 – 2026
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 2
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Kentucky Laboratory of Human Behavioral Pharmacology | Lexington | Kentucky | 40507 | — |
| University of Kentucky Department of Behavioral Science | Lexington | Kentucky | 40536-0086 | — |
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 NCT05610072, 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 May 4, 2026 · Synced Sep 14, 2026
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Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT05610072 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.