The safety, tolerability, and subject-rated effects of acute intranasal cocaine administration during aripiprazole maintenance II: increased aripipirazole dose and maintenance period.

OBJECTIVES

This experiment determined the safety and tolerability of intranasal cocaine during aripiprazole maintenance.

METHODS

Six cocaine-dependent human subjects were maintained on aripiprazole (15 mg) and placebo for 10 days in counterbalanced order prior to assessing the physiological and subject-rated effects of intranasal cocaine.

RESULTS

Intranasal cocaine produced prototypical stimulant-like effects (e.g., increased blood pressure and heart rate, increased subject ratings of Like Drug and Stimulated), and aripiprazole enhanced these effects on several measures.

CONCLUSIONS

Aripiprazole (15 mg/day) is safe and tolerable when combined with cocaine; however, the usefulness of aripiprazole as a treatment for cocaine-use disorders remains to be determined.