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D-cycloserine and cocaine cue reactivity: preliminary findings.

Author(s): Price KL, McRae-Clark AL, Saladin ME, Maria MM, DeSantis SM, Back SE, Brady KT

Affiliation(s): Medical University of South Carolina, Department of Psychiatry, Clinical Neuroscience Division, 67 President Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA. pricekl@musc.edu

Publication date & source: 2009, Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse., 35(6):434-8.

Publication type: Randomized Controlled Trial; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

BACKGROUND: D-cycloserine (DCS), a partial glutamate N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor agonist, enhances extinction of conditioned fear responding in rodents and facilitates exposure-based learning in humans with anxiety disorders. OBJECTIVES: This preliminary study investigates DCS pretreatment on response to cocaine cues in cocaine-dependent subjects. METHODS: Ten cocaine-dependent subjects were randomly assigned to receive either 50 mg DCS or matching placebo two hours before each of two 1-hour cocaine cue exposure sessions one day apart. HR and craving ratings were obtained before and during cue exposure sessions. RESULTS: There was a trend towards increased craving to cocaine cues in cocaine-dependent individuals after administration of DCS. CONCLUSIONS: The administration of DCS prior to cue exposure sessions may facilitate response activation. SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE: While facilitation of extinction-based learning by DCS may have therapeutic potential for cocaine dependence, this drug may exhibit a different profile in cocaine-dependent individuals as compared to those with anxiety disorders.

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