Actively Recruiting
Anxiety During Abstinence in AUD
Led by Columbia University · Updated on 2026-02-10
60
Participants Needed
1
Research Sites
206 weeks
Total Duration
On this page
Sponsors
C
Columbia University
Lead Sponsor
N
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Collaborating Sponsor
AI-Summary
What this Trial Is About
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.
CONDITIONS
Official Title
Anxiety During Abstinence in AUD
Who Can Participate
Eligibility Criteria
You may qualify if you...
- Age between 21 and 55 years
- Right-handed
- Able to provide informed consent and follow study procedures
- For participants with AUD: seeking treatment for AUD
- For participants with AUD: meet DSM-5 criteria for moderate or severe AUD (more than 3 symptoms)
- For healthy volunteers: drink fewer than 8 (women) or 15 (men) standard drinks per week on average and have no more than 1 heavy drinking day in the past 28 days
You will not qualify if you...
- Any neurological, medical, or other conditions that interfere with MRI scanning (e.g., stroke, seizure, brain tumor, brain infection, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, dementia, non MRI-compatible metal device, pregnancy, claustrophobia, color blindness, severe hearing loss, weight over 300 lbs, wheelchair bound, tattoos per MRI unit guidelines)
- Diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder
- Any psychiatric disorder requiring treatment during the study
- Significant risk of suicide or violence
- Currently taking psychotropic medications
- Current substance use disorder other than AUD, tobacco use disorder, or mild cannabis use disorder (for AUD participants); other than tobacco or mild cannabis (for healthy volunteers)
- Currently pregnant, trying to become pregnant, or nursing
- Social instability that prevents study participation (e.g., homelessness)
- Known allergy or intolerance to disulfiram or its derivatives (for AUD participants)
- Contraindications to disulfiram treatment (e.g., liver, kidney, cardiac disease, seizure disorder, hypothyroidism, diabetes, pregnancy, lactation)
- Taking medications that interact with disulfiram
- History of alcohol withdrawal seizures, delirium tremens, or resistant withdrawal
- Moderate or severe alcohol withdrawal currently
- Prior disulfiram treatment failure
- Abstinent for more than 7 days before screening
- Diagnosis of AUD of any severity (for healthy volunteers)
AI-Screening
AI-Powered Screening
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Trial Site Locations
Total: 1 location
1
Columbia University Irving Medical Center
New York, New York, United States, 10019
Actively Recruiting
Research Team
A
A B Srivastava, MD
CONTACT
How is the study designed?
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Masking
NONE
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Model
PARALLEL
Primary Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Number of Arms
2
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