Nicotine Dependence Clinical Trials

The purpose of this study is to better understand tobacco outcomes using a commonly prescribed stop smoking medication (varenicline) and financial incentives for adults who also use cannabis. Varenicline is not FDA approved for e-cigarette cessation, but is FDA approved for cigarette cessation. Investigators are also interested in how cannabis/marijuana and tobacco interact during a tobacco quit attempt. All participants will receive e-cigarette cessation treatment for 12 weeks. To qualify, participants must be between the ages of 18-40 and use both e-cigarettes and cannabis. Participants do not need to be interested in quitting cannabis to qualify. This study is being conducted at three sites: the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, SC, Behavioral Health Services in Pickens, SC, and MUSC Lancaster in Lancaster, SC. Read Less

Background: * Drugs of abuse have effects on mood, behavior, thinking, and decision making that may encourage people to continue using them and make it difficult for them to stop. Researchers who study these effects are interested in developing new tests to evaluate how drugs and drug use affect different areas of the brain. * Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans allow researchers to study brain activity and changes to brain function. When specific psychological tests are performed during functional MRI (fMRI) scans, researchers can examine the effects of drug use on the brain. By developing and testing new procedures for fMRI studies, more information can be obtained on brain function and activity in drug-using and non-drug-using individuals, and this information can help develop new treatments and therapies for substance abuse. Objectives: - To evaluate the effects of newly developed psychological procedures to be performed during fMRI scans. Eligibility: * Healthy volunteers between 13 and 65 years of age who are willing to undergo MRI scanning. * Both drug-using and non-drug-using individuals will be selected for this study. Design: * Before the start of the study, participants will complete questionnaires about medical and psychological history, and provide information about past or current drug use. Researchers will introduce the tasks to be performed during the scanning session(s), and will allow participants to practice the test either on a separate computer or on the computer used during the MRI scan. * During the study, participants will be asked to do one or more tasks selected by the researchers. The tasks will be performed on a computer in an MRI machine, and may involve receiving rewards (such as money or sips of juice) for actions, memory and reaction-time tests, or other tests that involve responding to instructions on the screen. * Participants will receive compensation for their participation in the study, including hourly compensation for individual visits and lump-sum compensation for each MRI scan. Read Less

This study is designed to investigate the effects of a beta-adrenergic antagonist (Propranolol; 40 mg IR) and nicotine patch (14 mg) administered alone and in combination on neurobiological and behavioral responses to smoking cues in ongoing cigarette smokers. This is a basic experimental study in humans and participants will not take these medications for an extended period or make a cessation attempt as part of their involvement in this research project. Read Less

Tobacco-free oral nicotine pouches (such as Zyn brand) are a less harmful alternative to cigarette smoking. Pouches, however, contain nicotine, and addictive substance that is not risk-free. The present study is evaluating how well nicotine pouches, at different nicotine levels, help people switch away from smoking cigarettes. People who smoke cigarettes will be asked to answer questions about their tobacco product use and provide breath samples and cheek swab samples at an in-person visit to MUSC Charleston. Participants will then be provided with a 28-day supply of nicotine pouches, and will be asked to switch from smoking to pouches over the course of 4 weeks. Finally, participants will complete a final visit at MUSC, and will answer more questions about their tobacco use 1-month later. Read Less

Background: - Functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques have allowed researchers to map and study how the brain works when at rest and when engaged in specific tasks. MRI scans have provided more information about how drugs affect the brain, and about how drug addiction changes the brain and influences behavior, mood, and thinking processes. To better understand the underlying mechanism of drug addiction and to develop strategies for more effective treatment, researchers are interested in developing new MRI techniques to study the effects of addiction on the brain. Objectives: - To develop new functional and structural MRI techniques, and to evaluate their potential use in brain imaging studies related to addiction. Eligibility: * Individuals between 18 and 80 years of age. * Participants may be smokers or nonsmokers, and may use drugs or not use drugs. Design: * During the initial screening, participants will complete questionnaires about family and personal history, drug use, and other information as required by the researchers. Participants who will be asked to complete tasks during the MRI scan will be shown how to perform these tasks before the scanning session. * Before each study session, participants may be asked to complete some or all of the following: questions about their drug use during the last week, a breathalyzer test, a urine drug-use assessment, a urine pregnancy test, or a measure of carbon monoxide. Participants will also provide blood samples before the start of the scan. * For each scanning session, participants will have an MRI scan that will last approximately 2 hours. * MRI scans may include specific tasks to be performed during the scan, or an experiment that studies the brain's response to carbon dioxide.... Read Less

Study Description: Despite the availability of pharmacotherapy for some substance use disorders, relapse vulnerability is still a significant issue. This suggests medications with alternative mechanisms of action should be explored to address this unmet need. Substantial preclinical research indicates that orexin antagonism blunts the internally and externally triggered motivation to attain abused substances. This research project will translate these preclinical findings into the clinical domain by administering the FDA approved orexin antagonist, suvorexant, to those with a substance use disorder. Suvorexant s ability to blunt neurobiological correlates of substance misuse will be assessed. This will be assessed following acute and repeated drug administration. Baseline individual differences will be considered to determine whether neurobiological variance influences suvorexant s impact in those with nicotine dependence. In an independent arm, the interaction between suvorexant and a dopamine agonist (methylphenidate) on cognitive function will be assessed in non-smoking individuals. Objectives: The objective is to determine the acute and chronic impact of the orexin antagonist, suvorexant, on neurobiological and behavioral factors linked with substance use disorders. Whether such effects are mediated by baseline characteristics will be tested. Given suvorexant is an FDA approved treatment for insomnia, sleep will be evaluated as well in the nicotine dependent arm. Endpoints: In nicotine-dependent individuals, suvorexant s impact on brain function will be assessed several ways by evaluating: 1) resting function, 2) reactivity to drug cues, 3) reactivity to non-drug related cognitive tasks. Sleep and nicotine use will be measured throughout the study period. In those without nicotine-dependence, the impact of suvorexant and the interaction of acute methylphenidate and suvorexant on brain function will be assessed. This arm will provide insight into how suvorexant impacts reward/cognition as well as impacts the pharmacological influence of methylphenidate on those same measures. Study Population:\<TAB\> Nicotine dependence arm:140 subjects; Volunteers who are between the ages of 18-60 and are daily smokers/vapers. Control arm: 80 subjects; Volunteers who are between the ages of 18-60 and are non-smokers/vapers This study will be conducted at the NIDA-IRP, Biomedical Research Center, in Baltimore, MD. Description of Study Intervention: Nicotine dependence arm: Suvorexant at 10 mg single dose, and Suvorexant at 10 mg daily for approximately 7 days. Control arm: 1. Tolerability visit with one MRI scan post-20mg methylphenidate, 4 acute drug administration (6-14 days in randomized order: 1. Placebo + placebo; 2. 20mg suvorexant + Placebo; 3. Placebo + 40mg methylphenidate; 4. 20 mg suvorexant + 40mg methylphenidate max) Study Duration: 5 years Participant Duration: 1-2 months Read Less

Background: Smoking is a major public health problem in the U.S. Almost a half a million Americans die from it in a year. One thing that contributes to why people smoke is the marketing of cigarettes. Cigarette direct mail marketing usually targets young smokers of lower socioeconomic status. Researchers want to find out more about how this kind of marketing influences smoking behavior in young people from different socioeconomic levels. Objectives: To study the effects of cigarette direct mail marketing on beliefs, responses, and arousal. To study how these things may differ among young adult smokers of high and low socioeconomic status. Eligibility: Volunteer adults ages 18 to 29 who smoke. Design: Participants will have 1 visit. Participants will be asked questions about their health and recent smoking. A nurse will check their vital signs. Participants will have a simple eye exam. They will give blood and urine samples. Participants will be connected to equipment. This will collect data while they look at pictures. Then they will have a 10-minute break. A nurse will observe them during the break. Participants will have their breath analyzed. Participants will answer questions. The topics will include: Education Job Income Family history Tobacco use Exposure to pro-smoking and anti-smoking messages History of drug and alcohol use Read Less

Characterize effects of relighting on smoke toxicant deliveries and subjective smoking measures. This will be a within-subject comparison in a single experimental group of 30 smokers who report engaging in relighting behaviors. We will assess smoking intensity for relit and non-relit (i.e., smoked continuously without relighting) cigarettes in the natural environment and will conduct in-clinic measurements of smoking topography and subjective responses for relit and non-relit cigarettes. Information on relighting patterns and smoking topography collected from each participant will be used to compare machine-measured smoke yields of key harmful constituents when their usual cigarettes are smoked with and without relighting. Hypothesis: Relit cigarettes will produce higher levels of toxicants than non-relit cigarettes. Read Less

This study investigates the feasibility, acceptability, and short-term effects of providing 4 weeks of complimentary electronic cigarettes (ECs) to 30 individuals who did not quit after smoking cessation treatment provided in the context of lung cancer screening and do not plan to quit smoking. This open-label single-arm pilot clinical trial will test the impact of EC provision on: 1) study feasibility, 2) EC acceptability, 3) tobacco use behavior (e.g., cigarettes per day, EC use), and 4) biomarkers (e.g., carbon monoxide, cotinine, and anabasine). Participants will be asked to switch from combustible cigarettes to the NJOY ACE 5% nicotine electronic cigarette (EC) for 4 weeks. They will be followed an additional 4 weeks after EC provision ends (to 8 weeks). The first study hypothesis is that more than 40% of eligible smokers who are offered participation in the trial will enroll, and that 75% of enrollees will complete the trial. The second study hypothesis is that participants will report fewer cigarettes smoked per day at the end of 4 weeks of EC provision, relative to their baseline values. Read Less

The advent of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) substantially improved life expectancy but has also led to the critical need to address modifiable risk factors associated with cancer and cardiovascular disease, such as tobacco smoking. HIV-infected smokers lose more life-years due to tobacco use than they do to their HIV infection. There have been relatively few studies of tobacco use treatments for PLWHA and systematic reviews show that there are insufficient data to conclude that tobacco dependence interventions that are efficacious in the general population are efficacious for PLWHA. Further, many studies in this area have lacked randomization and a control group, infrequently used an intent-to-treat (ITT) approach and biological verification of tobacco abstinence, and lacked post-treatment follow-up.10 What investigators do know thus far is that behavioral interventions and the nicotine patch yield moderate effects on cessation; and 2 recent placebo-controlled trials - one in France and one by this lab - found that varenicline is safe and effective for treating tobacco use among PLWHA, but yield quit rates that are substantially lower than those reported in the general population. Thus, there is a critical need to rigorously test novel ways to optimize tobacco cessation treatment for smokers with HIV. Read Less

This project will examine the impact of the nicotine dose and delivery rate on nicotine's abuse potential, versus its potentially beneficial effects on smoking urges and withdrawal. Will use pulsed IV nicotine administration which closely matches nicotine delivery by inhaled tobacco use. Read Less

The purpose of the study is to examine the effects of continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) on different forms of cognitive control in adults who smoke cigarettes, and to determine if the location where cTBS is delivered may help smokers reduce or quit smoking. Participation in the study will take 3-weeks over 4 visits, with a total time commitment of approximately 12 hours. Read Less