Assessment of human abuse potential of preladenant (a centrally-acting A2A antagonist) compared to phentermine and placebo in recreational stimulant users

Abstract

s / Drug and Alcohol Dependence 146 (2015) e34–e117 e91 Results: From the stakeholders, the preventive program came to fill in a gap in the availability of more systematized actions to approach the topic of drug use in schools. Teachers acquired knowledge of techniques to help them in managing groups and in pedagogical activities. One of the highlights was the experiential training for the preventive activity and the presence of coaches in the school daily life, providing the professionals with support and security. Another highlight was the program approach more oriented towards life skills, which generated changes in the behavior of the teenagers. In the students’ opinion, the strength of the Unplugged was the dynamic and participatory methodology, allowing for group interactions and opening space formeeting people they were not close with. All of the groups suggested specific changes to make the program more appropriate to the Brazilian reality. Conclusions:Unplugged has proved to be feasible to be applied with teenagers in Brazilian schools, contributing to facing the drug useproblemwith a lessmoral andmoreparticipatory and reflective approach. Financial support: UNODC letter of agreement 005/2013 and 007/2013, Ministry of Health of Brazil. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.09.614 Assessment of human abuse potential of preladenant (a centrally-acting A2A antagonist) compared to phentermine and placebo in recreational stimulant users Kerri Schoedel1, Naama Levy-Cooperman1, Peter Basseches2, Kristin Butterfield2, David Hewitt2, Pat Larson2, Mattew Troyer2, Edward M. Sellers3, Joanna Udo de Haes2 1 Altreos Research Partners Inc, Toronto, ON, Canada 2 Merck & Co, Inc, Whitehouse Station, NJ, United States 3 DL Global Partners, Inc, Toronto, ON, Canada Aims: Preladenant (PLD) is a peripherally/centrally-acting A2A receptor antagonist that was being developed for treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Since centrally acting drugs have potential for abuse, the study aim was to evaluate the abuse potential of PLD compared to placebo (PBO) and phentermine (PHEN). Methods: This was a randomized, double-blind, balanced, placeboand active-comparator controlled 6-way crossover study. Healthy recreational stimulant users (N=31) received single oral doses of PLD (10, 30, 100mg), PHEN (45, 90mg) and PBO. Eligible subjects passed a qualification session to ensure they could distinguish 60mg PHEN from PBO. Subjective measures (VAS [0–100 scale], ARCI and Subjective Drug Value) were evaluated over 24h postdose. Results:Mean peak (Emax) Drug Liking VAS (primary endpoint) was significantly higher for both PHEN doses compared to PBO (Ps0.007; differences of 9.1 and19.4 for 45 and90mg, respectively), thereby confirming study validity. Small but statistically significant differences between supratherapeutic doses of PLD (30 and 100mg) and PBO were observed (6.7 and 9.7, respectively; P<0.05). The difference between PLD 10mg and PBO was not significant (4.9; P=0.14). Drug Liking Emax values for all PLD doses were significantly lower than 90mg (Ps0.004) but not 45mg PHEN (P≥0.201). Results on secondary endpoints were similar, with PLD showing significant effects on some but not all endpoints compared to PBO, and effects lower than 90mg and similar to 45mg PHEN. The dose relationship was relatively flat for PLD compared to PHEN on most endpoints. Conclusions: In summary, PLD produced similar effects as 45mg PHENon subjective Drug Liking and othermeasures of abuse potential, indicating an increase in stimulant-like effects. However, the effects of PLDwere less than those of 90mg PHEN and the dose relationship was comparatively flat. Financial support: This study was funded by Merck & Co, Inc. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.09.615 Identifying latent classes of adolescent drug treatment services: An outcomes analysis Megan Schuler1, Beth Ann Griffin2, Elizabeth Letourneau1, Elizabeth Stuart1,3 1 Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States 2 RAND, Arlington, VA, United States 3 Department of Biostatistics, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD,