Completed

New Approaches to Cocaine Abuse Medications (A)

0 criteria met from your profileSee at a glance how your profile meets each eligibility criteria.
What is being tested

Desipramine

+ Placebo

Drug
Who is being recruted

Behavior+4

+ Mental Disorders

+ Behavioral Symptoms

From 18 to 60 Years
See all eligibility criteria
How is the trial designed

Treatment Study

Placebo-ControlledPhase 2
Interventional
Study Start: January 1995
See protocol details

Summary

Principal SponsorNew York State Psychiatric Institute
Last updated: January 27, 2026
Sourced from a government-validated database.Claim as a partner

Study start date: January 1, 1995

Actual date on which the first participant was enrolled.

This is a randomized, 12-week, double-blind, 'placebo-controlled trial of outpatients meeting DSM-III-R criteria for cocaine dependence and major depression or dysthymia (by SCID interview). Participants were treated with desipramine, up to 300 mg per day, or matching placebo. All patients received weekly individual manual-guided relapse prevention therapy. Weekly outcome measures included the Clinical Global Impression Scale, self-reported cocaine use and craving, urine toxicology, and the Hamilton Depression Scale.

Official TitleNew Approaches to Cocaine Abuse Medications (A)
NCT00000271
Principal SponsorNew York State Psychiatric Institute
Last updated: January 27, 2026
Sourced from a government-validated database.Claim as a partner

Protocol

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.
Design Details

111 patients to be enrolled

Total number of participants that the clinical trial aims to recruit.

Treatment Study

These studies test new ways to treat a disease, condition, or health issue. The goal is to see if a new drug, therapy, or approach works better or has fewer side effects than existing options.



Eligibility

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria: person's general health condition or prior treatments.
Conditions
Criteria

Any sex

Biological sex of participants that are eligible to enroll.

From 18 to 60 Years

Range of ages for which participants are eligible to join.

Healthy volunteers not allowed

If individuals who are healthy and do not have the condition being studied can participate.

Conditions

Pathology

BehaviorMental DisordersBehavioral SymptomsDepressionSubstance-Related DisordersCocaine-Related DisordersChemically-Induced Disorders

Criteria

Inclusion: 1. Meets DSM-IV criteria for current cocaine dependence. 2. Used cocaine at least one day in the past month. 3. Currently meets DSM-IV criteria for Major Depression or Dysthymia. 4. Depressive disorder is either: 1. primary (antedates earliest lifetime substance abuse or 2. persistent during 6 months of abstinence in the past or 3. at least 3 months duration in the current episode 5. Age 18-60. 6. Able to give informed consent and comply with study procedures. Exclusion: 1. Meets DSM-IV criteria for past mania (i.e. bipolar disorder), schizophrenia or any psychotic disorder other than transient psychosis due to drug abuse. 2. History of seizures. 3. History of allergic reaction to desipramine or imipramine. 4. Chronic organic mental disorder. 5. Significant current suicidal risk. 6. Pregnancy, lactation or failure in sexually active female patients to use adequate contraceptive methods. 7. Unstable physical disorders which might make participation hazardous such as hypertension, hepatitis or diabetes. 8. Coronary vascular disease as indicated by history or suspected by abnormal ECG or history or cardiac symptoms. 9. Cardiac conduction system disease as indicated by QRS duration \>0.11. 10. Current use of other prescribed psychotropic medications within the last 2 weeks. 11. History of failure to respond to a previous adequate trial of desipramine or another tricyclic antidepressant. 12. Currently meets criteria for another substance dependence disorder (DSM-IV) other than nicotine, marijuana or alcohol.

Study Plan

Find out more about all the medication administered in this study, their detailed description and what they involve.
Treatment Groups
Study Objectives

2 intervention groups are designated in this study

50% chance of being blinded to the placebo group

Treatment Groups

Group I

Experimental
Participants were treated with desipramine, up to 300 mg per day. All patients received weekly individual manual-guided relapse prevention therapy.

Group II

Placebo
Participants were treated with matching placebo. All patients received weekly individual manual-guided relapse prevention therapy.

Study Objectives

Primary Objectives

Study Centers

These are the hospitals, clinics, or research facilities where the trial is being conducted. You can find the location closest to you and its status.

This study has 1 location

Suspended

Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene

New York, United StatesOpen Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene in Google Maps
CompletedOne Study Center