Alcohol Drinking Clinical Trials

Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) affect up to 60% of individuals with bipolar disorder during their lifetime-a rate 3 to 5 times higher than what occurs in the general population. The mechanisms that contribute to elevated rates of comorbidity are not known. Early identification in individuals with bipolar disorder who are at risk for AUDs could inform novel intervention strategies and improve life-long outcomes. The primary objective of this protocol is to use alcohol administration procedures and functional MRI techniques to investigate subjective response to alcohol, compared to placebo, and relationship with functional responses of, and connectivity among, brain regions in ventral prefrontal emotional networks in young adults with bipolar disorder and healthy comparison young adults. Baseline clinical and structural MRI assessments will be completed in 30 bipolar and 30 healthy young adults (21-26 years of age, 50% women). Then, following standard beverage administration procedures, participants will complete within-person, counter-balanced, fMRI scans and complete measures of subjective response to alcohol while under the influence of alcohol or placebo. Specifically, individual differences in the experience of stimulating, sedative, and anxiolytic effects of alcohol (measured with self-report surveys) and individual differences in neural responses to alcohol within ventral prefrontal emotional networks will be investigated and differences in bipolar disorder compared to healthy participants assessed. Functional MRI scans during a continuous performance task with emotional and neutral distractors (CPT-END) and at rest will be collected while under the influence of alcohol and placebo and compared. Experience of stimulating, sedative, and anxiolytic effects of alcohol from self-report survey data and neural responses to emotional stimuli while under the influence of alcohol compared to placebo will be the primary data outcomes assessed. Additionally, associations between subjective and neural response to alcohol and drinking patterns will be explored (secondary outcomes). The primary endpoint of the study will be after completion of both alcohol and placebo beverage conditions. Read Less

This study employs a repeated measures experimental design to examine the effect of THC-dominant dose of cannabis and CBD-dominant dose of cannabis, relative to placebo, on subsequent drinking in an alcohol choice task in which participants choose either to drink or receive monetary reinforcement for drinks not consumed. Cannabis will be administered simultaneously with an alcohol-priming dose or alcohol placebo. The study will enroll up to 350 nontreatment-seeking heavy episodic alcohol drinkers who use cannabis weekly. Read Less

This study will examine whether moderate alcohol use in the context of HIV infection exacerbates inflammatory signaling in the immune system and brain. The study will recruit healthy individuals and people living with HIV infection who are otherwise in good health to participate. Participants will complete an experimental protocol that involves controlled alcohol administration and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Primary outcomes are plasma biomarkers of inflammation and MRI markers correlated with neuroinflammation. Results will advance understanding of the effects of alcohol use in people living with HIV infection. Read Less

Alcohol is one of the most widely used intoxicants. The effects of driving while intoxicated are well documented, leading to the laws and regulations behind drunk driving. Marijuana is also a commonly abused drug, whose use is increasing with widespread legalization/decriminalization in many US states and use of medical marijuana. Marijuana use is linked to cognitive impairment and is likely be the cause of intoxication-induced accidents. The effects of marijuana intoxication on driving impairments are less documented than those of alcohol. However, most marijuana users also consume alcohol when smoking cannabis, and preliminary data strongly suggest that driving impairment from both drugs used together is synergistic rather than just additive. This study will aim to investigate the brain and behavior in the same individuals, using a similar design to the current Neuroscience of Marijuana Impaired Driving and the prior Alcohol and Driving Grant, that used similar techniques and measures to quantify drunk automobile driving. We hypothesize that alcohol and marijuana use combined will lead to greater impairment in a simulated driving task, as well as other driving-related cognitive impairments. In a randomized, counterbalanced, double-blind study, we will dose participants with alcohol to a legal level of 0.05% blood alcohol content, then we will administer a moderate inhaled dose of THC marijuana or placebo marijuana, using paced inhalation that employees a vaporizer. Participants will comprise 10 regular alcohol and marijuana consumers aged 21 to 40 years of age; all participants must report smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol together. Of the 10, 5 will be occasional marijuana smokers and 5 frequent marijuana smokers. Following this dosing, we will assess impairment through cognitive testing as well as a simulated driving test through fMRI and neuropsychological tests. Samples of breath, blood and oral fluid will also be collected at multiple time points throughout the study visits to be measured for alcohol and THC concentration and its metabolites. This allows clarification between the relationship of impairment, as well as subjective and objective intoxication, and levels of THC and its metabolites in the users system. Read Less