Impact of Repeatedly-Administered THC-cannabis on Experimental Pain and Abuse Liability in Humans

New York State Psychiatric Institute

Status and phase: Suspended; Phase 2

Conditions: Hyperalgesia; Cannabis; Tolerance; Pain

Treatments: Drug: Placebo Cannabis; Drug: Active Cannabis

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT04596644

R21DA050752 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

8058

Details and patient eligibility

About

Chronic pain is a significant public health concern in the U.S., for which prescription opioids have historically been the standard treatment. This has resulted in striking rates of opioid use disorders and fatal overdoses. Identifying non-opioid medications for the management of chronic pain with minimal abuse liability is a public health necessity, and cannabinoids are a promising drug class for this purpose. More than 80% of medicinal cannabis users report pain as their primary medical indication, and they report experiencing minimal psychoactive effects. However, there are few well-controlled human laboratory studies assessing cannabis' efficacy for pain in the context of abuse, and even less is known regarding the effects of daily repeated use of cannabis on pain and its relationship to abuse liability. Carefully controlled research is needed.

The proposed randomized, within-subjects, placebo-controlled 16-day crossover inpatient human laboratory study (N = 20 healthy cannabis users; 10 men, 10 women) will address three important gaps in our understanding of the potential therapeutic utility of cannabis for pain: 1) Does tolerance develop to repeated, daily smoked cannabis administration on measures of experimental pain and abuse liability; 2) If so, is tolerance reversed during the 7 days of abstinence from active-THC cannabis; 3) Does abrupt abstinence from active cannabis increase experimental pain sensitivity, i.e. hyperalgesia, relative to baseline, and do these effects parallel measures of cannabis withdrawal such as disrupted mood and sleep?

Two distinct modalities of experimental pain will be assessed: The Cold Pressor Test (CPT) and Quantitative Sensory Testing Thermal Temporal Summation (QST-TTS). Throughout the study, experimental pain and abuse-related effects will be assessed, as will sleep and subjective mood assessments.

Enrollment: 16 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 21 to 60 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Males/non-pregnant females, 21-60 years old
• Current cannabis user
• Able to perform all study procedures

Exclusion criteria

• Use of other illicit drugs
• If medical history, physical and psychiatric examination, or laboratory tests performed during the screening process reveal any significant illness that the study physician deems contraindicated for study participation
• Insensitivity to the cold-water stimulus of the Cold Pressor Test or the heat stimulus of Quantitative Sensory Testing

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Non-Randomized

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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16 participants in 3 patient groups, including a placebo group

Dose A: Standardization Phase

Experimental group

Description:

On the first full inpatient day (Day 1), participants smoke one specified strength (Dose A; 75% of two 6.58% cannabis cigarettes) of cannabis at three timepoints.

Treatment:

Drug: Active Cannabis

Dose B: Placebo Phase

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

On Days 2-8, participants smoke a second strength (Dose B; 75% of two \< 0.01%THC:CBD cannabis cigarettes) of cannabis will be administered 3x/day.

Treatment:

Drug: Placebo Cannabis

Dose A: Active Phase

Experimental group

Description:

On Days 9-15, cannabis Dose A will be administered again (75% of two 6.58% cannabis cigarettes) at three timepoints each day.

Treatment:

Drug: Active Cannabis