New Drug for Cocaine Use Disorder Treatment

Researchers are testing diabetes drug in the treatment of cocaine use disorder along with cognitive behavioral therapy.

A clinical trial combining a medication approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can prevent relapse in cocaine use disorder patients.

Researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) conducted a double-blind, randomized clinical trial enrolling pioglitazone, which is used to treat type 2 diabetes.

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‘Pioglitazone is a diabetes drug that can protect brain from the damage created by cocaine use.’

“This tragic rise in drug use has been attributed in part to uncertain and stressful times surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Joy M. Schmitz, PhD, co-principal investigator of the trial with Scott D. Lane, PhD, of the Center for Neurobehavioral Research on Addiction in the Louis A. Faillace, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth.

Pioglitazone has anti-neuroinflammatory effects, which makes it a possible treatment for neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, brain trauma, and stroke.

Many studies related to cocaine addiction have shown that chronic cocaine use has widespread neurotoxic effects similar to these brain diseases and injuries in areas of the brain associated with cognitive function.

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The researchers teamed up with The Right Step Center in Houston to offer eligible participants a two-step treatment, which begins with a brief inpatient detoxification that help participants achieve initial abstinence from cocaine.

After the initial detoxification, participants will receive 12 weeks of outpatient treatment consisting of individual CBT combined with either pioglitazone or placebo. The study enrolled 60 participants.

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“Our thinking is that pioglitazone will facilitate the recovery process in these individuals by improving neural and cognitive functioning so that patients might benefit more from the behavioral therapy,” said Schmitz, who holds the Louis A. Faillace, MD, Professorship.

As previous research showed that pioglitazone produced significant improvement in integrity of white matter area of brain that reduced craving for cocaine, researchers expect that the combination of CBT with pioglitazone can lead to longer term cocaine abstinence.

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Source-Medindia