No Placebo Group
Every participant receives an active treatment — no one gets a placebo.
Healthy Volunteers Welcome
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Ready to participate?
Review the details below, then apply to join this clinical trial.
At a Glance
Age
21 – 55
Sex
Any
Trial phase
Early Phase 1
Study type
Interventional
Purpose
Basic Science
Participants needed
60 (estimated)
Sponsor
Columbia University · Other
Who this trial is looking for
This trial is looking for people with alcohol use disorder and healthy volunteers. Participants will undergo brain scans and may take a medication called disulfiram to help with abstinence from alcohol.
Are You a Good Fit for This Trial?
Must be takingDisulfiram
Must not be takingAlcoholMetronidazoleIsoniazidParaldehydePhenytoinWarfarin
Rules you outActive schizophreniaBipolar disorderSevere alcohol withdrawalAlcohol use disorder of any severity (for healthy volunteers)
You may be able to join if
I am between 21 and 55 years old
I am right-handed
I can give informed consent
I am seeking treatment for alcohol use disorder
I have been diagnosed with moderate alcohol use disorder
You may not be able to join if
I have a serious neurological or medical condition that affects MRI scans
I have been diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or similar
I am currently taking psychotropic medication
I have a current substance use disorder besides alcohol or mild cannabis
I am pregnant or nursing
I cannot participate due to being socially unstable, like being homeless
I have a known allergy to disulfiram
I have had recent severe alcohol withdrawal symptoms
Summarized in plain language from this trial's official eligibility criteria.
The full criteria are further down this page — only the research team can
confirm whether you qualify.
Think this trial could be right for you?
Answer three quick questions written from this study's own rules to see if you may qualify. No account needed to find out.
The goal of this study is to better understand the underlying neurobiological basis of anxiety that emerges during abstinence in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD). The main questions it aims to answer are:
1. To characterize anxiety itself as well as anxiety related-neurobiological circuitry in early abstinence in AUD
2. To examine how anxiety and anxiety related-neurobiological circuitry …
The goal of this study is to better understand the underlying neurobiological basis of anxiety that emerges during abstinence in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD). The main questions it aims to answer are:
1. To characterize anxiety itself as well as anxiety related-neurobiological circuitry in early abstinence in AUD
2. To examine how anxiety and anxiety related-neurobiological circuitry change over the course of abstinence in AUD
Researchers will recruit both participants with AUD and healthy volunteers.
The participants with AUD will be prescribed disulfiram, a medication that helps participants with AUD stay abstinent. Healthy volunteers will not receive antabuse. Patients with AUD will undergo fMRI scanning both after 1 week and 3 months of disulfiram treatment. Healthy volunteers will undergo fMRI once.
Trial Locations
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Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria (Participants with Alcohol use Disorder):
1. Between the ages of 21 and 55
2. Right-handed
3. Able to perform informed consent and comply with study
4. Seeking treatment for AUD
5. Meets The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) criteria for AUD of at leas…
Inclusion Criteria (Participants with Alcohol use Disorder):
1. Between the ages of 21 and 55
2. Right-handed
3. Able to perform informed consent and comply with study
4. Seeking treatment for AUD
5. Meets The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) criteria for AUD of at least moderate severity (\>3 symptoms)
Inclusion Criteria (Healthy Volunteer Participants):
1. Between the ages of 21 and 55
2. Right-handed
3. Able to perform informed consent and comply with study
4. Report drinking an average of fewer than 8/15 standard drinks per week for women/men and no more than 1 HDD (heavy drinking days) during the previous 28 days.
Exclusion Criteria (Participants with Alcohol use Disorder):
1. Neurological, medical or other conditions that would interfere with MRI scanning (e.g., history of stroke, seizure, brain tumor, brain infection, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, dementia, non MRI-compliant metal device in body, pregnancy, claustrophobia, color blindness, severe hearing impairment, weight\>300 lbs., wheelchair-bound, tattoos as indicated by the guidelines established by the Zuckerman Institute MRI unit: https://mr.research.columbia.edu/
2. DSM 5 diagnoses of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder
3. Any non-AUD psychiatric disorder that may, according to the investigator's judgment, require treatment over the course of the study
4. Significant suicide or violence risk
5. Currently taking psychotropic medication
6. Current substance use disorder other than AUD, tobacco use disorder or mild cannabis use disorder
7. Currently pregnant, attempting to become pregnant or nursing
8. Sufficiently socially unstable as to preclude participation (e.g. homeless).
9. Known history of allergy, intolerance, or hypersensitivity to disulfiram or its derivates
10. Contraindications to disulfiram treatment (e.g. liver disease, kidney disease, cardiac disease, seizure disorder, hypothyroidism, diabetes mellitus, pregnancy or lactation, allergy to disulfiram or thiuram derivatives)
11. Currently taking medications containing alcohol, metronidazole, isoniazid, paraldehyde, phenytoin, warfarin, or theophylline.
12. Treatment with concomitant medications that might interfere with disulfiram
13. A history of alcohol withdrawal seizures, delirium tremens or resistant alcohol withdrawal
14. Current moderate or severe alcohol withdrawal (CIWA \>9 with BAL\<0.05)
15. History of prior disulfiram treatment failure
16. Being abstinent for \> 7 days at the time of screening
Exclusion Criteria (Healthy Volunteer Participants):
1. Neurological, medical or other conditions that would interfere with MRI scanning (e.g., history of stroke, seizure, brain tumor, brain infection, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, dementia, non MRI-compliant metal device in body, pregnancy, claustrophobia, color blindness, severe hearing impairment, weight\>300 lbs., wheelchair- bound, tattoos as indicated by the guidelines established by the ZI MRI unit: https://mr.research.columbia.edu/
2. DSM 5 diagnoses of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder
3. Any psychiatric disorder that may, according to the investigator's judgment, require treatment over the course of the study
4. Significant suicide or violence risk
5. Currently taking psychotropic medication
6. Current substance use disorder other than tobacco use disorder or mild cannabis use disorder
7. Currently pregnant, attempting to become pregnant or nursing
8. Sufficiently socially unstable as to preclude participation (e.g., homeless).
9. A diagnosis of AUD of any severity
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