A Comparison of the Addiction Liability of Hydrocodone and Sustained Release Morphine

Phase 4

Completed

• Conditions: Chronic Pain
• Interventions: Behavioral: Markers of Abuse Liability, Neuropsych Testing, and Cue Reactivity; Drug: hydrocodone plus acetaminophen; Drug: placebo; Drug: ER Morphine

• Registration Number: NCT00314340
• Lead Sponsor: University of California, Davis

Brief Summary

Characterize the relative abuse liability of a short versus a long acting opioid in chronic pain patients.

Detailed Description

A placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover trial will be conducted providing study subjects either hydrocodone/acetaminophen 30mg/975mg, sustained release morphine 45mg or placebo on separate GCRC visits. A long acting comparator (slow-release morphine sulfate 45 mg) will be chosen because of its putative equianalgesic effects to the dose of hydrocodone (30 mg) selected. Subjects will participate in the three sessions at the UC Davis/Mather Medical Center General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) at intervals of 7-10 days. Sessions will be approximately 360 min in duration. Subjects will receive either hydrocodone/acetaminophen or sustained release morphine around-the-clock for 7-10 days prior to the experimental session. At each experimental session, an assessment of abuse liability will be completed before the intake of medications, as well as at 0, 60, 120, 180, 240 minutes after the ingestion of the study medication.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2005-11
• Study First Submitted: 2006-04-11
• Study First Submitted QC: 2006-04-11
• Study First Posted: 2006-04-13
• Primary Completion: 2008-04
• Study Completion: 2008-04
• Results First Submitted: 2012-11-20
• Results First Submitted QC: 2013-07-11
• Results First Posted: 2013-07-12
• Status Verified: 2017-05
• Last Update Submitted: 2017-05-25
• Last Update Posted: 2017-05-30

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 12

Inclusion Criteria

• Patients with chronic pain for periods greater than 6 months
• Patients taking greater than 80 mg morphine equivalents of a short acting opioid (>8 vicodin or 4 oxycodone/day)
• Referral to Pain or Substance Abuse Clinic for self-escalation of opioids

Exclusion Criteria

• Inability to understand and comprehend spoken English
• Patients with Munchausen's syndrome
• Patient has a history of Peripheral Vascular Disease
• Patient has a history of Raynaud's Phenomenon
• Liver Disease; Child's classification greater than 1 (liver cirrhosis) will be excluded
• Renal disease (BUN >25 or Cr >1.5)
• Congestive Heart Failure; Subjects with New York Heart Association (NYHA)Heart Failure Symptom Classification System Level of Impairment II, III and IV will be excluded
• Coronary artery disease; recent MI within the past six months or recent history of angina not controlled with NTG within the past six months
• Hypertension; 1)previously normotensive subject; systolic bp >140 mm Hg and diastolic bp > 90 mm Hg 2) Hx of active treatment with antihypertensive medications; systolic bp >150 mm Hg and diastolic bp > 100 mm Hg
• Cerebrovascular disease; recent history within the past year of a transient ischemic attack or recent history within the past year of a cerebrovascular event
• Malignancy requiring active treatment
• Patient is pregnant (as ascertained by a self-report and a mandatory commercial pregnancy test before any study medication is consumed)

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: CROSSOVER

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
hydrocodone	hydrocodone plus acetaminophen	Markers of Abuse Liability, Neuropsych Testing, and Cue Reactivity On the day of the study session, patients received hydrocodone 30 mg plus N-acetyl-para-aminophenol 975 mg (APAP;Qualitest Pharmaceuticals Inc, Huntsville, AL).
placebo	placebo	Subjects received a placebo pill if randomized to this arm. Both opioid medications and the placebo were administered in identical capsules.
hydrocodone	Markers of Abuse Liability, Neuropsych Testing, and Cue Reactivity	Markers of Abuse Liability, Neuropsych Testing, and Cue Reactivity On the day of the study session, patients received hydrocodone 30 mg plus N-acetyl-para-aminophenol 975 mg (APAP;Qualitest Pharmaceuticals Inc, Huntsville, AL).
extended-release morphine	Markers of Abuse Liability, Neuropsych Testing, and Cue Reactivity	Markers of Abuse Liability, Neuropsych Testing, and Cue Reactivity On one of three study dates, subjects received ER morphine tablets, 45 mg (Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, St. Louis, MO). The dose of ER morphine sulfate (45 mg) was selected because of its approximate equianalgesic effect to the dose of hydrocodone-acetaminophen (30/925 mg).
extended-release morphine	ER Morphine	Markers of Abuse Liability, Neuropsych Testing, and Cue Reactivity On one of three study dates, subjects received ER morphine tablets, 45 mg (Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, St. Louis, MO). The dose of ER morphine sulfate (45 mg) was selected because of its approximate equianalgesic effect to the dose of hydrocodone-acetaminophen (30/925 mg).
placebo	Markers of Abuse Liability, Neuropsych Testing, and Cue Reactivity	Subjects received a placebo pill if randomized to this arm. Both opioid medications and the placebo were administered in identical capsules.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
3 Scores on the Addiction Research Center Inventory (ARCI)	0, 60, 120, 180, 240, or 300 minutes	The subjective effects of the study drug were evaluated with 3 subscales of the Addiction Research Center Inventory (ARCI). The subscales studied included Morphine-Benzedrine Group which measured euphoria (0-16 with higher numbers indicating more euphoria), the Phenobarbital-Chorpromazine-Alcohol Group which measured sedation (-3 to +11 with higher scores indicating more sedation), and the Lysergic Acid Diethylmide Group which measured dysphoria and agitation (-4 to +10 with higher scores indicating more dysphoria). This inventory consists of 49 true/ false questions which survey major domains of drug effects. The ARCI was measured at six timepoints. Of interest were trough sedation, peak euphoria, and trough dysphoria.