Trial reportBiological psychiatry2013
Pharmacogenetic randomized trial for cocaine abuse: disulfiram and dopamine β-hydroxylase.
Trial report in Biological psychiatry, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 57 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
57 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 105 citations in OpenAlex.
- Disulfiram for the treatment of cocaine dependence.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Comparison of Treatments for Cocaine Use Disorder Among Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.JAMA network open · 2021Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of medications for stimulant use disorders in patients with co-occurring opioid use disorders.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2020Pooled it
- Pharmacotherapy for Cocaine Use Disorder-a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Journal of general internal medicine · 2019Pooled it
- Addiction pharmacogenetics: a systematic review of the genetic variation of the dopaminergic system.Psychiatric genetics · 2015Pooled it
- A randomized clinical trial of disulfiram at higher doses for the treatment of cocaine use disorder among methadone-stabilized patients.Journal of psychiatric research · 2025Trial
- Disulfiram ameliorates nonalcoholic steatohepatitis by modulating the gut microbiota and bile acid metabolism.Nature communications · 2022Trial
- Pharmacogenetic role of dopamine transporter (SLC6A3) variation on response to disulfiram treatment for cocaine addiction.The American journal on addictions · 2019Trial
- Pharmacogenetics of Dopamine β-Hydroxylase in cocaine dependence therapy with doxazosin.Addiction biology · 2019Trial
- Functional neural changes following behavioral therapies and disulfiram for cocaine dependence.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2017Trial
- The α-1 adrenoceptor (ADRA1A) genotype moderates the magnitude of acute cocaine-induced subjective effects in cocaine-dependent individuals.Pharmacogenetics and genomics · 2016Trial
- Correlates of cocaine use during methadone treatment: implications for screening and clinical management (ANRS Methaville study).Harm reduction journal · 2016Trial
- Evaluation of the dopamine β-hydroxylase (DβH) inhibitor nepicastat in participants who meet criteria for cocaine use disorder.Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry · 2015Trial
- The κ-opioid receptor gene as a predictor of response in a cocaine vaccine clinical trial.Psychiatric genetics · 2013Trial
- Pharmacogenetic randomized trial for cocaine abuse: disulfiram and α1A-adrenoceptor gene variation.European neuropsychopharmacology : the journal of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2013Trial
- ANKK1 and DRD2 pharmacogenetics of disulfiram treatment for cocaine abuse.Pharmacogenetics and genomics · 2013Trial
- Modifying the role of serotonergic 5-HTTLPR and TPH2 variants on disulfiram treatment of cocaine addiction: a preliminary study.Genes, brain, and behavior · 2012Trial
- Pharmacogenetics of naltrexone and disulfiram in alcohol dependent, dually diagnosed veterans.The American journal on addictionsTrial
- Off-label and repurposed use of disulfiram beyond alcohol dependence: A systematic review of clinical and preclinical evidence.iScience · 2026Article
- The role of polysubstance use in the development, maintenance, and treatment of stimulant use disorders.Pharmacological reviews · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDisulfiram has been an effective cocaine addiction pharmacotherapy, and one of its possible mechanisms of efficacy is through copper chelation and inhibition of an enzyme involved in catecholamine metabolism, dopamine β-hydroxylase (DβH), which converts dopamine to norepinephrine. A variant in the gene encoding DβH leads to reduced DβH activity, and as such, disulfiram might not be an effective treatment of cocaine dependence for individuals with this variant. This study explored that potential matching.
methodsSeventy-four cocaine- and opioid-codependent (DSM-V) subjects were stabilized on methadone for 2 weeks and subsequently randomized into disulfiram (250 mg/day, n = 34) and placebo groups (n = 40) for 10 weeks. We genotyped the DBH gene polymorphism, -1021C/T (rs1611115), that reduces DβH enzyme levels and evaluated its role for increasing cocaine free urines with disulfiram.
resultsWith repeated measures analysis of variance, corrected for population structure, disulfiram pharmacotherapy reduced cocaine-positive urines from 80% to 62% (p = .0001), and this disulfiram efficacy differed by DBH genotype group. Patients with the normal DβH level genotype dropped from 84% to 56% on disulfiram (p = .0001), whereas those with the low DBH level genotype showed no disulfiram effect.
conclusionsThis study indicates that the DBH genotype of a patient could be used to identify a subset of individuals for which disulfiram treatment might be an effective pharmacotherapy for cocaine dependence.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.