Abstract
Rationale
d-Cycloserine (DCS), a partial glutamate N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor agonist, enhances extinction of conditioned fear responding; preliminary data suggest that it may facilitate extinction of drug cue reactivity.
Objective
This study investigates DCS effects on cocaine cue craving and drug use in cocaine-dependent subjects.
Methods
Thirty-two subjects were randomly assigned to receive (1) DCS only, (2) DCS before sessions 1 and 3, placebo (PBO) before session 2, or (3) PBO only 15-min before each of 3 1-h cocaine cue exposure sessions conducted 1 day apart. Craving ratings were obtained before, during, and after sessions. Drug use and cue-induced craving were assessed 1 week after the last cue session.
Results
Repeated presentation of cocaine cues resulted in decreased craving both within and between sessions. DCS did not facilitate extinction learning and may have enhanced craving. The group that received three doses of DCS had significantly higher craving than the PBO group at the baseline ratings taken before sessions 2 and 3, as well as significantly higher cue-induced craving at follow-up. The group that received two doses of DCS did not differ from the PBO group. There were no group differences in postextinction cocaine use.
Conclusions
The reduction of cocaine cue reactivity in the PBO group suggests that the study procedures were sufficient to produce extinction. Under these conditions, DCS did not facilitate extinction and may have enhanced craving. Further studies of glutamatergic agents and extinction in cocaine dependence should include consideration of procedural variables that could have a major impact on study outcomes.
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Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (Grant Nos. 1R01DA023188-01A1 and 3R01DA023188-02S1). The authors thank Lisa Jenkins, Katherine Shugart, Colleen Reed, and Cullen McWhite at MUSC and Elizabeth Chapman and Margaret Garret at BHSPC for their assistance with study participants. Preliminary analyses of these data were presented in poster format at the 2010 College on Problems of Drug Dependence annual meeting in Scottsdale, AZ.
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Price, K.L., Baker, N.L., McRae-Clark, A.L. et al. A randomized, placebo-controlled laboratory study of the effects of d-cycloserine on craving in cocaine-dependent individuals. Psychopharmacology 226, 739–746 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-011-2592-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-011-2592-x