Acamprosate Added to Escitalopram and Behavioral Treatment for Comorbid Depression and Alcoholism

Phase 4

Completed

Conditions: Major Depressive Disorder
Alcohol Abuse
Alcohol Dependence

Interventions: Drug: acamprosate
Drug: escitalopram
Behavioral: Medical management
Drug: Placebo

Registration Number: NCT00452543

Lead Sponsor: Massachusetts General Hospital

Brief Summary: This is a study about treatment for people who suffer from both major depression and alcohol abuse or dependence. The study will examine whether the addition of acamprosate to escitalopram and behavioral interventions will improve outcomes for this population.

Detailed Description: Depression and alcohol use disorders contribute to a significant proportion of the burden of disease, in the United States and abroad. Patients who suffer from co-morbid depression and alcohol abuse/dependence have illnesses that are more severe, persistent and costly than people with either depression or an alcohol use disorder alone. The treatment of these patients remains controversial. Several studies have demonstrated that antidepressants can be safe and efficacious in the treatment of depression in people who continue to drink, and it is now considered the standard of care to provide such treatment. Other studies have shown that pharmacotherapy with naltrexone or acamprosate can help reduce drinking in alcoholics without co-morbid depression. A logical extension of these findings would be to study the treatment of depressed alcoholics with dual pharmacotherapy, combining an anti-depressant with a medication aimed at treating the alcohol use disorder. We will conduct a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trial of escitalopram plus acamprosate and behavioral treatment vs. escitalopram plus placebo and behavioral treatment in 20 depressed alcoholics. Outcome measures will include depression, alcohol use and global functioning.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: COMPLETED

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 23

Inclusion Criteria

DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for MDD (diagnosis based on Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, Patient Edition; SCID I/P)
Written informed consent
Men and women aged 18-64 years
Current diagnosis of alcohol abuse/dependence as per SCID I/P

Exclusion Criteria

Subjects with suicidal ideation where outpatient treatment is determined unsafe by the study clinician. These patients will be immediately referred to appropriate clinical treatment.
Pregnant women or women of childbearing potential who are not using a medically accepted means of contraception (defined as oral contraceptive pill or implant, condom, diaphragm, spermicide, IUD, s/p tubal ligation, partner with vasectomy).
Known history of serious or unstable medical illness, including cardiovascular, hepatic, renal, respiratory, endocrine, neurologic or hematologic disease.
History of seizure disorder, brain injury, any history of known neurological disease (multiple sclerosis, degenerative disease such as ALS, Parkinson disease and any movement disorders, etc.).
Clinical or lab evidence of untreated hypothyroidism.
History or current diagnosis of the following DSM-IV psychiatric illness: organic mental disorder, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, delusional disorder, psychotic disorders not otherwise specified, bipolar disorder, patients with mood congruent or mood incongruent psychotic features, patients with substance use disorders (excluding alcohol and nicotine) active within the last 12 months.
Current use of other psychotropic drugs, including current use of benzodiazepines, hypnotics, anticonvulsants. Concomitant use of antihistamine drugs will be allowed. Patients will need to be off all antidepressants for at least two weeks by the time of the baseline visit, and four weeks for fluoxetine, and off benzodiazepines and other psychotropics for at least one week. The decision about whether to taper existing medications should be made by the individual and their primary treater based on clinical care and will not be made for purposes of study enrollment. allowed.
Patients who have failed to respond during the course of their current major depressive episode to at least two adequate antidepressant trials. An adequate antidepressant trial is defined as six weeks or more of treatment with escitalopram > 20mg/day or its antidepressant equivalent: (fluoxetine 40mg/day, sertraline > 100 mg/day, paroxetine > 40 mg/day, fluvoxamine > 100 mg/day, citalopram > 40 mg/day, escitalopram > 20 mg/day, venlafaxine > 150 mg/day, and duloxetine > 60 mg/day).
Any depression-focused or substance-abuse focused psychotherapy (family or marital counseling would be allowed).
Patients who have taken an investigational psychotropic drug within the past year.
Need for medical or inpatient detoxification from alcohol. This determination will be made by the screening clinician, based on clinical judgement as in the multicenter STAR*D study (PHRC #2000-P-001955 in accordance with methods used in the multi-center STAR-D study.

Study & Design

Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL

Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Escitalopram plus acamprosate	acamprosate	-
Escitalopram plus acamprosate	Medical management	-
Escitalopram plus placebo	escitalopram	-
Escitalopram plus placebo	Medical management	-
Escitalopram plus placebo	Placebo	-
Escitalopram plus acamprosate	escitalopram	-

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in Mean Score on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression -- 17 Items (HAM-D-17)	From baseline visit to Week 12 (or early discontinuation visit)	Scores on the HAM-D-17 typically fall into the following ranges: a) Not depressed: 0-7; b) Mildly depressed: 7-15; c) Moderately depressed: 15-25; d) Severely depressed: over 25. A decrease of 50% or more in the Hamilton-D score is considered to be a positive response to treatment, while a score of 7 or less is considered typical of remission. We measure the change in total score from Baseline to Week 12 or week of early termination visit.
Total Drinking Days on the Alcohol Timeline Followback (TLFB)	From Baseline visit to Week 12 (or early discontinuation visit)	The TLFB assesses recent drinking behavior. On the TLFB, clients retrospectively estimate their daily alcohol consumption in standard drinks over a time period ranging from 7 days to 24 months prior to the interview, and thus the measure provides quantitative estimates of alcohol use. One standard drink on the TLFB was defined as: 12 oz beer (5% alcohol by volume), 5 oz of wine (10-12% abv), 3 oz of fortified wine (16-18% abv), or 1-1.2 oz of hard liquor (86-100 proof; 43-50% abv). We measure the change from Baseline to Week 12 or week of early termination visit.
Total Drinks Consumed Per Week on the TLFB	From Baseline visit to Week 12 (or early discontinuation visit)	Total Drinks Consumed per Week on the Time Line Follow Back. We measure the change from Baseline to Week 12 or week of early termination visit.
Total Drinks Consumed Per Drinking Day on the TLFB	From Baseline visit to Week 12 (or early discontinuation visit)	Total Drinks Consumed per Drinking Day on the Time Line Follow Back. We measure the change from Baseline to Week 12 or week of early termination visit.