Bipolar disorder (BD) is a common and severe psychiatric illness. Drug and alcohol abuse are very common in people with BD and other mood disorders and are associated with increased rates of hospitalization, violence towards self and others, medication non-adherence and cognitive impairment. However, few studies have investigated the treatment of dual-diagnosis patients as substance use is frequently an exclusion criterion in clinical trials of patients with BD. To address this need we have developed a research program that explores the pharmacotherapy of people with BD and substance related-disorders.

A potentially very interesting treatment for BD is citicoline. Some data suggest that this supplement may stabilize mood, decrease drug use and craving, and improve memory. We found promising results with citicoline in patients with BD and cocaine dependence. In recent years the use of amphetamine and methamphetamine has become an important public health concern. However, virtually no research has been conducted on the treatment of amphetamine abuse.

We propose a double-blind placebo controlled prospective trial of citicoline in a group of 60 depressed outpatients with bipolar disorder, depressed phase or major depressive disorder and amphetamine abuse/dependence, to explore the safety and tolerability of citicoline, and its efficacy for mood symptoms, stimulant use and craving and its impact on cognition. Our goal is to determine which symptoms (e.g. mood, cognition, substance use) citicoline appears to be most effective and estimate effect sizes for future work.