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A Study to Help People Quit Smoking.

Cholinergic Enhancement as a Treatment for Nicotine Addiction

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT01880099
Enrollment
60
Registered
2013-06-18
Start date
2013-12-31
Completion date
2015-12-31
Last updated
2020-03-23

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Nicotine Dependence

Keywords

addiction, smoking, tobacco, cigarettes

Brief summary

You are invited to participate in a research study at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System (West Haven campus) that examines whether a medication called galantamine can improve your learning and memory, and also help you to quit smoking. You have been invited to participate because you currently smoke cigarettes, and want to quit smoking. If you are eligible and agree to be in the study, your participation will last for approximately 8 weeks. To determine if galantamine (8 or 16 mg) is superior to placebo a) in reducing smoking self-administration in a human laboratory model and b) improving abstinence rates at the end of 4 weeks of treatment.

Detailed description

We propose a double-blind, placebo-controlled, outpatient study with a between-groups design. Seventy-two male and female smokers will be randomly assigned to one of the 3 treatment conditions: GAL (8 or 16 mg/day) or placebo. The dose of GAL will be gradually increased to the target doses over a 2-week period (Table 2). During Week 3, following overnight abstinence from smoking, participants will present for a laboratory Test Session in which they will have the option of cigarette self-administration. After this Test Session is completed, smokers will be maintained on their randomized medication condition for an additional 4-week period. Smokers will establish a quit date at the beginning of this Treatment Phase, and will receive brief weekly behavioral treatment for the 4 weeks of this phase. Additionally, at the beginning of Week 3, participants will be given a PDA that will administer EMA assessments. The study medication will be tapered after the end of Week 4 of the Treatment Phase. Participants will be contacted by phone at one week, and one month, after treatment termination to inquire about any adverse events and about their recent smoking status.

Interventions

DRUGplacebo

placebo compared to 8mg of Galantamine

DRUGGalantamine 8mg

8mg of galantamine compared to placebo

DRUGGalantamine 16mg

16mg of galantamine compared to placebo

Sponsors

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
CollaboratorNIH
Yale University
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Investigator)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 55 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Female and male smokers, aged 18 to 55 years; * history of smoking daily for the past 12 months, at least 10 cigarettes daily; * in good health as verified by medical history, screening examination, and screening laboratory tests; * for women, not pregnant as determined by pregnancy screening, nor breast feeding, and using acceptable birth control methods.

Exclusion criteria

* History of GAL allergy; * requirement of any form of regular psychotropic medication (antidepressants, antipsychotics, or anxiolytics) and recent psychiatric history (in the past 6 months); * serious medical illness including asthma, diabetes, bradycardia, or other arrhythmias and major cardiovascular, renal, endocrine, or hepatic disorders; * abuse of alcohol or any other illicit or prescription drugs; * use of any other tobacco products, including smokeless tobacco and nicotine products; and * inability to fulfill all scheduled visits and examination procedures throughout the study period.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Smoking Choice ProcedureData was acquired during a single test session during week 3 of drug intervention.After overnight abstinence, participants will receive 10 tokens at the beginning of the smoking choice session. These tokens can be exchanged for money (0.75$ / token) or 2 cigarette puffs. The session starts with sample smoking of 2 puffs that allows subjective responses to me measured after abstinence. 15 min later, participants make their first choice, followed by 9 additional choices, every 15 minutes.

Countries

United States

Participant flow

Participants by arm

ArmCount
Placebo
Placebo (sugar Pill) will be given daily for 7 weeks. placebo: placebo compared to 8mg of galatamine
17
Galantamine 8mg
Galantamine extended release (8mg) will be given daily for 7 weeks. Galantamine 8mg: 8mg of galatamine compared to placebo
21
Galantamine 16mg
Galantamine extended release (16mg) will be given daily for 5 weeks starting at week 3 after a two week titration with 8mg galantamine. Galantamine 16mg: 16mg of galatamine compared to placebo
22
Total60

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicPlaceboGalantamine 8mgGalantamine 16mgTotal
Age, Categorical
<=18 years
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Age, Categorical
>=65 years
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Age, Categorical
Between 18 and 65 years
17 Participants21 Participants22 Participants60 Participants
Region of Enrollment
United States
17 participants21 participants22 participants60 participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
6 Participants8 Participants10 Participants24 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
11 Participants13 Participants12 Participants36 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
EG001
affected / at risk
EG002
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
0 / 170 / 210 / 22
other
Total, other adverse events
8 / 1713 / 2111 / 22
serious
Total, serious adverse events
0 / 170 / 210 / 22

Outcome results

Primary

Smoking Choice Procedure

After overnight abstinence, participants will receive 10 tokens at the beginning of the smoking choice session. These tokens can be exchanged for money (0.75$ / token) or 2 cigarette puffs. The session starts with sample smoking of 2 puffs that allows subjective responses to me measured after abstinence. 15 min later, participants make their first choice, followed by 9 additional choices, every 15 minutes.

Time frame: Data was acquired during a single test session during week 3 of drug intervention.

Population: The number of participants analyzed per arm for this outcome is different than participant flow data because not every participant completed the smoking choice session.

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
PlaceboSmoking Choice Procedure3.00 # of choices to smoke (out of 10)Standard Deviation 3.08
Galantamine 8mgSmoking Choice Procedure1.00 # of choices to smoke (out of 10)Standard Deviation 1
Galantamine 16mgSmoking Choice Procedure0.85 # of choices to smoke (out of 10)Standard Deviation 1.35

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026