Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Role of modafinil in the treatment of patients with methamphetamine dependence; An update on randomized, controlled clinical trial

Mahnoosh Tavakkoli Fard¹, Saeid Sadat Mansouri² , Alireza Jafari², Nasim Vousooghi^1,3

¹Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Inflammatory Lung Diseases Research Center, Department of Internal Medicine; ²Urology Research Center, Razi Hospital, School of Medicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht; ³Research Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Sciences, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran.

For correspondence:- Saeid Mansouri Email: sahand8141557@yahoo.com

Accepted: 19 September 2020 Published: 30 October 2020

Citation: Fard MT, Mansouri SS, Jafari A, Vousooghi N. Role of modafinil in the treatment of patients with methamphetamine dependence; An update on randomized, controlled clinical trial. Trop J Pharm Res 2020; 19(10):2179-2185 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v19i10.23

© 2020 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: Methamphetamine is a powerful, highly addictive stimulant which affects the central nervous system. Here we evaluated the efficacy of modafinil for the treatment of patients with MA dependence.

Methods: A randomized parallel controlled trial study was designed to compare the effectiveness of take-home, self-administered modafinil treatment in the intervention and the controlled group in three months. The primary outcome measurements were severity and duration of craving, and self-reported methamphetamine consumption, which was confirmed by urine drug test.

Results: The relapse rate in the intervention group was 40%, and the controlled group was 75%, indicating a decrease in relapse rate of MA in the intervention group. During the three months, the severity and the duration of the drug abuse craving in the intervention group were less than the controlled group. Patients in the intervention group experienced an increase in the retention rate and a decrease in the slip rate.

Conclusion: The use of modafinil is not only effective on craving and relapse reduction, but also changes urine drug screens of patients with MA dependence to negative. The modafinil is safely indicated as an absolutely effective medication to reduce withdrawal symptoms and the craving of patients with MA dependence.

Keywords: Modafinil, Methamphetamine dependence, Effectiveness, Clinical trial