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Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)Phase 2NACNCT02791945

N-acetylcysteine Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder In Veterans With TBI

A Phase 2 study testing Medical Management Counseling and N-acetylcysteine in people with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Hazardous and Harmful Alcohol Use, run by University of California, San Francisco at 1 site in United States.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

The goal of the project is to improve the care of Veterans with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and unhealthy alcohol use. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 to 65 years
What is being tested?
Medical Management Counseling and N-acetylcysteine
Could I receive a placebo?
Yes, some participants may receive a placebo
How many people
30 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
Aug 2016to May 2018
Phase
Phase 2
Are there results?
Yes, posted in the registrySummary in the doctors' view

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 to 65 years
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Male and female veterans
  • Ages 18-65 (inclusive)
  • A history of mTBI as defined by American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM), in the chronic, stable phase of recovery (>6 months from injury).
  • Current (past month [30 days]) Hazardous or Harmful Alcohol Use: Hazardous use is drinking that meets NIAAA criteria: Current (past 30 day) weekly drinking, consisting of an average of 15 standard drinks/week for men or 8 standard drinks/week for women. Harmful use is drinking behavior that meets DSM-5 criteria mild AUD.
  • Participants must express a desire to reduce or stop alcohol use.
  • Female subjects that must have a negative urine pregnancy test and must be either postmenopausal one year or practicing an effective birth control method.

Who cannot join

  • Unstable psychotic or bipolar disorders, dementia, or other psychiatric disorders judged to be unstable in the clinical judgment of the PI or study physician.
  • Clinically significant unstable medical conditions, in the clinical judgment of the PI or study physician.
  • Female patients who are pregnant or nursing.
  • Concurrent participation in another alcohol treatment study, or in any research study involving medications.
  • Requiring acute medical detoxification from alcohol based on a score of 12 or more on the Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment of Alcohol Scale (CIWA-AD).
  • NAC use in the past week prior to study entry.
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  • Use of AUD treatment medications (disulfiram, naltrexone, or acamprosate) within the past week.
  • Participants who are legally mandated to participate in an alcohol treatment program.
  • Participants who have had a suicide attempt in the past 3 months or suicidal ideation, with intent, in the 30 days prior to enrollment.
  • Participants who in the opinion of the investigator should not be enrolled in the study because of the precautions, warnings or contraindications outlined in the NAC package insert.
  • Participants with known hypersensitivity to acetylcysteine

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site
  • San Francisco VA Medical Center

    San Francisco, California, 94121

Other trials in United States

About this study

The goal of the project is to improve the care of Veterans with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and unhealthy alcohol use.

Read the detailed description

This is a pilot controlled clinical trial that aims to assess the efficacy of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) to reduce alcohol use and improve brain injury symptoms in Veterans with mTBI who consume alcohol at hazardous or harmful levels.

Being tested
Medical Management Counseling, N-acetylcysteine, Placebo
Keywords
TBI, hazardous and harmful alcohol use, Veterans, co-occurring disorders, pharmacotherapy
Medical subject headings
Brain Injuries, Traumatic

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Medical Management CounselingBehavioural

    Brief alcohol counseling

  • N-acetylcysteineDrug

    Also called NAC

    Experimental supplement

  • PlaceboDrug

    Placebo comparator

Study groups in NCT02791945
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
N-acetylcysteineExperimentalN-acetylcysteine capsules daily - up to 3200 mg
Receives: Behavioral: Medical Management Counseling; Drug: N-acetylcysteine
PlaceboPlacebo comparatorPlacebo capsules daily - up to 3200 mg
Receives: Behavioral: Medical Management Counseling; Drug: Placebo

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Change in Percent of Heavy Drinking Days Per Week as Assessed by the Timeline Followback (TFLB)

    The TLFB interview, using a calendar, asks participants to report the prior week's frequency of alcohol use on each day of the week.

    Measured: Baseline to Week 8

  2. Change in TBI Symptoms as Assessed by the Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory (NSI)

    Participants indicate the extent to which each of the 22 symptoms has disturbed them in the previous 2 weeks on a 5-item scale (0-none to 4-severe). The NSI total score is the sum of severity ratings of the symptoms. The scores are summed to yield a total score ranging from 0 to 88, where the higher the point value, the greater (more severe) the symptoms

    Measured: Baseline to Week 8

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted7 Jun 2016 (estimated)
  2. Study startAug 2016
  3. Primary completionMay 2018
  4. Study completionMay 2018

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Masking
Double blind
Who is masked
Participant, Investigator
Enrolment
30 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT02791945
Sponsor's protocol ID
9236sc
Acronym
NAC
Status last verified
Apr 2021
First submitted
1 Jun 2016
Last updated
11 May 2021
Data monitoring committee
Yes

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A Phase 2 study testing Medical Management Counseling and N-acetylcysteine in people with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Hazardous and Harmful Alcohol Use, run by University of California, San Francisco at 1 site in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 6 inclusion and 11 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 11 May 2021. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. Some participants in this study may receive a placebo. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

What does this phase mean?

Phase 2 studies give the treatment to a larger group to see whether it has the intended effect and to keep checking safety.

Not every study follows the same path, and some studies (observational studies, device studies) have no phase.

Are results available for this study?

Yes. Results are posted in the registry (first posted 16 Dec 2020). A summary is in the For doctors view, and the full results are on ClinicalTrials.gov.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Change in Percent of Heavy Drinking Days Per Week as Assessed by the Timeline Followback (TFLB) (time frame: Baseline to Week 8). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 11 May 2021.

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