Anxiety During Abstinence in AUD
Neural Mechanisms of Anxiety During Early and Protracted Abstinence in Alcohol Use Disorder
Columbia University
60 participants
Sep 15, 2025
INTERVENTIONAL
Conditions
Summary
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.
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria9
- Between the ages of 21 and 55
- Right-handed
- Able to perform informed consent and comply with study
- Seeking treatment for AUD
- Meets The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) criteria for AUD of at least moderate severity (\>3 symptoms)
- Between the ages of 21 and 55
- Right-handed
- Able to perform informed consent and comply with study
- 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 Criteria25
- 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/
- DSM 5 diagnoses of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder
- Any non-AUD psychiatric disorder that may, according to the investigator's judgment, require treatment over the course of the study
- Significant suicide or violence risk
- Currently taking psychotropic medication
- Current substance use disorder other than AUD, tobacco use disorder or mild cannabis use disorder
- Currently pregnant, attempting to become pregnant or nursing
- Sufficiently socially unstable as to preclude participation (e.g. homeless).
- Known history of allergy, intolerance, or hypersensitivity to disulfiram or its derivates
- 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)
- Currently taking medications containing alcohol, metronidazole, isoniazid, paraldehyde, phenytoin, warfarin, or theophylline.
- Treatment with concomitant medications that might interfere with disulfiram
- A history of alcohol withdrawal seizures, delirium tremens or resistant alcohol withdrawal
- Current moderate or severe alcohol withdrawal (CIWA \>9 with BAL\<0.05)
- History of prior disulfiram treatment failure
- Being abstinent for \> 7 days at the time of screening
- 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/
- DSM 5 diagnoses of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder
- Any psychiatric disorder that may, according to the investigator's judgment, require treatment over the course of the study
- Significant suicide or violence risk
- Currently taking psychotropic medication
- Current substance use disorder other than tobacco use disorder or mild cannabis use disorder
- Currently pregnant, attempting to become pregnant or nursing
- Sufficiently socially unstable as to preclude participation (e.g., homeless).
- A diagnosis of AUD of any severity
Interventions
Disulfiram will be used in Participants with Alcohol Use Disorder only to facilitate abstinence.
Participants will undergo fMRI scanning. Participants with alcohol use disorder will undergo scanning after 1 week and 3 months of disulfiram maintenance. Healthy volunteer participants will undergo scanning once.
Locations(1)
View Full Details on ClinicalTrials.gov
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NCT06793488