Clinical trial NCT02028273: Hippocampal Neurogenesis in Human Subjects
Official title: Hippocampal Neurogenesis in Human Subjects (Pilot Study)
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Hippocampal Neurogenesis in Cocaine Addiction
Keywords: Neurogenesis
Addiction
Cocaine
MRI
MRS
Lead sponsor: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2014-01-07
Enrollment: 14
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 55
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Observational model: COHORT
Time perspective: CROSS_SECTIONAL
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Patients will be recruited from residential sober living and outpatient facilities. Patients will also be recruited through flyers placed locally. Healthy controls will be recruited from the Greater Dallas community.

Brief summary: This study is being done to measure the number of brain cells that grow in the brain throughout our lives while determining an effective way to complete this with an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scanner. The number of these brain cells may be affected by cocaine use. Researchers are trying to understand the long-term effects of cocaine use on the brain.

Detailed description: New neurons are generated through the process of neurogenesis. Although most active during pre-natal development, neurogenesis persists throughout the human lifespan. In adulthood, neurogenesis occurs predominantly in the subgranular zone of the hippocampal dentate gyrus. A highly novel methodology using Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) has recently been developed to measure the formation of hippocampal newborn stem cells in the human brain. We propose to assess Neural Progenitor Cells (NPCs) in the neuropsychiatric disorder cocaine dependence, a chronic disease process associated with pathology of the hippocampus and impaired neurogenesis. In addition, we will assess other measures associated with neurogenesis, including hippocampal (dentate gyrus) cerebral blood volume (CBV) using Vascular-Space-Occupancy (VASO) Magnetic Resonance Imaging. We predict that newborn hippocampal cells \[or neuronal progenitor cells (NPCs\] will be attenuated in recently using cocaine-addicted participants relative to abstinent and control participants, and that these changes will be paralleled by changes in CBV. In this pilot study, we will assess for these changes in cocaine-addicted subjects who are actively using cocaine and those who are recently abstinent (three to six months) as well as age-, race-, and gender-similar control participants.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Cocaine-dependence (patient population) or no cocaine-dependence (control population)

Exclusion Criteria:

* Other medical or psychiatric disorders that may effect neural functioning
* Medications that may effect neural functioning

Primary outcomes:
measure: Assess Neural Progenitor Cells
timeFrame: within 3 weeks of screening physical
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Hippocampal cerebral blood volume
timeFrame: within 3 weeks of screening physical
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Dallas
country: United States
facility: UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Division on Addictions
state: Texas
Study officials:
affiliation: UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
name: Bryon Adinoff, M.D.
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: