Trial reportCNS drugs2014
Assessment of the abuse liability of a dual orexin receptor antagonist: a crossover study of almorexant and zolpidem in recreational drug users.
Trial report in CNS drugs, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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
7 citing papers in PubMed, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Abuse Potential of Lemborexant, a Dual Orexin Receptor Antagonist, Compared With Zolpidem and Suvorexant in Recreational Sedative Users.Journal of clinical psychopharmacologyTrial
- Acute Cognitive Effects of the Dual Orexin Receptor Antagonist Lemborexant Compared With Suvorexant and Zolpidem in Recreational Sedative Users.Journal of clinical psychopharmacologyTrial
- Sleep regulates drug seeking and relapse - a perspective.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- Abuse potential assessment of the dual orexin receptor antagonist daridorexant in rats.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2023Article
- The abuse potential of lemborexant, a dual orexin receptor antagonist, according to the 8 factors of the Controlled Substances Act.Psychopharmacology · 2023Review
- A Decade of Orexin/Hypocretin and Addiction: Where Are We Now?Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2017Review
- Orexin/hypocretin based pharmacotherapies for the treatment of addiction: DORA or SORA?CNS drugs · 2014Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDual orexin receptor antagonists (DORAs) enable initiation and maintenance of sleep in patients with primary insomnia. Blockade of the orexin system has shown reduction of drug-seeking behavior in animal studies, supporting the role of orexin antagonism as a novel approach for treating substance abuse. Since hypnotics are traditionally associated with misuse, a lack of abuse liability of DORAs would offer significant benefits over current therapies for sleep disorders.
methodsIn this randomized, crossover, proof-of-concept study, single oral doses of the DORA almorexant (200, 400, and 1,000 mg) were administered to healthy subjects with previous non-therapeutic experience with central nervous system depressants and were compared with placebo and single oral doses of zolpidem (20 and 40 mg), a benzodiazepine-like drug. Subjective measures of abuse potential (visual analog scales [VAS], Addiction Research Center Inventory, and Subjective Drug Value) and objective measures (divided attention [DA]) were evaluated over 24 h post-dose in 33 evaluable subjects.
resultsDrug Liking VAS peak effect (E max; primary endpoint) was significantly higher for all doses of almorexant and zolpidem compared with placebo (p<0.001). Almorexant 200 mg showed significantly less 'Drug Liking' than both zolpidem doses (p<0.01), and almorexant 400 mg had smaller effects than zolpidem 20 mg (p<0.05), while almorexant 1,000 mg was not different from either zolpidem dose. Results were similar for other subjective measures, although almorexant generally showed smaller negative and perceptual effects compared with zolpidem. Almorexant also showed less cognitive impairment compared with zolpidem on most DA endpoints.
conclusionThis study in humans investigating single doses of almorexant is the first to explore and show abuse liability of a DORA, a class of compounds that is not only promising for the treatment of sleep disorders, but also of addiction.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.