Conditions: Alcohol Dependence Depression
Keywords: treatment alcohol dependence depression mecamylamine
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 21
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
The objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of mecamylamine (MEC, 10 mg/day) versus placebo in reducing depressive and alcohol symptoms in patients with depression and co-morbid alcohol dependence. The researchers hypothesize that MEC will significantly reduce depressive symptoms and decrease alcohol consumption compared to placebo in patients with depression and alcohol dependence who are on a stable dose of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI).

Detailed description:
Depression with co-morbid alcohol dependence is very prevalent and it is very costly to treat. The co occurrence of the two disorders leads to greater severity and worse long-term outcome, including suicide. Although a number of treatment strategies have been implemented for depressed patients with alcohol dependence the controversy concerning best treatment options for those patients persists.

The clinical relationship between depression and alcohol dependence suggests some common mechanism underlying both disorders. It has been hypothesized that medications that block presynaptic nAChR may be effective in the treatment of alcoholism and depression. Mecamylamine (Inversine ®) is a noncompetitive, high affinity nAChR antagonist with low selectivity for the alpha-7 receptor. Mecamylamine has never been investigated as an effective adjunct treatment for dually diagnosed patients with depression and alcohol dependence. Methods: Thirty participants with a current diagnosis of depression and alcohol dependence will be recruited for this 12-week treatment study. Fifteen participants will be randomized to mecamylamine and fifteen to placebo. Participants will be included in the study if: they meet current DSM-IV criteria for Major Depression and Alcohol Dependence and have been on a stable SSRI dose for 2 weeks. All participants will come weekly to take their medications and complete weekly assessments. Weekly assessments will consist of questioners that will assess depressive symptoms and alcohol consumption over the entire treatment period. Significance: This study is the first to evaluate the efficacy of mecamylamine as an augmenting agent for treatment of depression and alcohol dependence.

Arms:
arm 1: Mecamylamine is a noncompetitive, high-affinity nAChR antagonist with low selectivity for the alpha-7 receptor. Those receiving mecamylamine started at 2.5mg once daily (second dose was placebo). The dose was increased to 5.0 mg twice daily over 3 weeks. arm 2: Placebo capsules were prepared by the pharmacy and were identical in size and color to the medication capsules.

Interventions: intervention 1: Mecamylamine intervention 2: Placebo
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: mecamylamine 10mg/day for 12 weeks intervention 2: Placebo pill

Protocol document: