Combination Therapy in Dual Diagnosis Bipolar Rapid Cycling
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ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00221975 |
Recruitment Status :
Completed
First Posted : September 22, 2005
Last Update Posted : December 3, 2014
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Condition or disease | Intervention/treatment | Phase |
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Bipolar Disorder | Drug: Divalproex Drug: Lamotrigine Drug: Lithium | Phase 3 |
Study Type : | Interventional (Clinical Trial) |
Actual Enrollment : | 98 participants |
Allocation: | Randomized |
Intervention Model: | Parallel Assignment |
Masking: | Triple (Participant, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor) |
Primary Purpose: | Diagnostic |
Official Title: | Combination Therapy in Dual Diagnosis Rapid Cycling Bipolar Disorder |
Study Start Date : | July 2002 |
Actual Primary Completion Date : | June 2007 |
Actual Study Completion Date : | December 2007 |

Arm | Intervention/treatment |
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Active Comparator: Lithium + Divalproex + Lamictal
Lithium monotherapy was initiated at 450 mg once daily and titrated slowly over 3 weeks to a minimum blood level of 0.5 mEqlL. Divalproex was then initiated at 250 mg twice daily and increased slowly over 5 weeks to a minimum blood level of 50 μg/mL. Patients meeting the criteria of being non-responsive to lithium plus divalproex were randomly assigned to receive lamotrigine or placebo. Patients randomized to the lamotrigine group were titrated up to a minimum dose of 150 mg and maximum dose of 200 mg per day.
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Drug: Divalproex
Once a therapeutic blood level of lithium was achieved, Divalproex was initiated at 250 mg twice daily and increased slowly over 5 weeks to a minimum blood level of 50 μg/mL.
Other Name: Depakote Drug: Lamotrigine Lithium monotherapy was initiated at 450 mg once daily and titrated slowly over 3 weeks to a minimum blood level of 0.5 mEqlL.
Other Name: Lamictal Drug: Lithium Subjects who did not respond to the combination of Lithium and Divalproex were then randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to adjunctive lamotrigine versus placebo after stratification by illness type (bipolar I versus bipolar II), historical response to lithium (response versus oon-response), and the length of current exposure to the combination treatment with lithium and divalproex (<2 months versus ≥2 months).
Other Name: Eskalith |
Placebo Comparator: Lithium + Divalproex + Placebo
Lithium monotherapy was initiated at 450 mg once daily and titrated slowly over 3 weeks to a minimum blood level of 0.5 mEqlL. Divalproex was then initiated at 250 mg twice daily and increased slowly over 5 weeks to a minimum blood level of 50 μg/mL. Patients meeting the criteria of being non-responsive to lithium plus divalproex were randomly assigned to receive lamotrigine or placebo. Patients randomized to the placebo group were giving matching placebo.
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Drug: Divalproex
Once a therapeutic blood level of lithium was achieved, Divalproex was initiated at 250 mg twice daily and increased slowly over 5 weeks to a minimum blood level of 50 μg/mL.
Other Name: Depakote Drug: Lithium Subjects who did not respond to the combination of Lithium and Divalproex were then randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to adjunctive lamotrigine versus placebo after stratification by illness type (bipolar I versus bipolar II), historical response to lithium (response versus oon-response), and the length of current exposure to the combination treatment with lithium and divalproex (<2 months versus ≥2 months).
Other Name: Eskalith |
- Proportion of patients who experience a marked and persistent bimodal response [ Time Frame: Phase 1: Baseline - Week 16 ]

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Ages Eligible for Study: | 16 Years to 65 Years (Child, Adult, Older Adult) |
Sexes Eligible for Study: | All |
Accepts Healthy Volunteers: | Yes |
Inclusion Criteria:
- Has given written informed consent.
- Males or females 16 years of age and older. For patients less than 18 years old, concurrent written informed consent will also be required from the parents or legal guardians.
- Must meet Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) criteria for major depression at the time of study entry.
- Must meet DSM-IV criteria for rapid-cycling bipolar disorder in the last 12 months.
- Must meet DSM-IV criteria for alcohol or drug abuse within the past 3 months or dependence in the last 6 months (unless most recent period of abstinence occurred while in a controlled environment).
- Must have no medical illness precluding the use of lithium, divalproex sodium and/or lamotrigine.
- Regardless of treatment response, patients who have been exposed to lithium or divalproex sodium will be included as long as the medication was adequately tolerated and all three medications were not administered concurrently.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Patients who have had intolerable side effects to lamotrigine, lithium at levels of 0.6 mEq/L or divalproex sodium at levels of 50ug/ml.
- Patients who have previously been treated with lithium, divalproex sodium and lamotrigine concurrently.
- Patients who have previously been treated with an adequate trial of lamotrigine, which was considered to be a treatment failure.
- Patients who do not have a recent history of, or are not currently abusing or dependent on alcohol or drugs.
- Patients with a prior history of seizure disorder, cerebral vascular disease, structural brain damage from trauma, clinically significant focal neurological abnormalities, closed head injury, EEG abnormalities with frank paroxysmal activity or a previous CT/MRI scan of the brain with gross structural abnormalities.
- Patients who have clinically significant gastrointestinal, renal, hepatic, endocrine, cardiovascular, pulmonary, immunologic, hematologic, or oncologic diseases. Clinically significant evidence of thyroid failure will be defined as a decreased free thyroxine index with several clinical signs and symptoms of overt failure.
- Patients who are pregnant, at-risk of becoming pregnant or intend to become pregnant during the study. Patients who are not at risk of becoming pregnant are females who are post menopausal, who have undergone a hysterectomy, bilateral oophorectomy or sterilization, who agree to use an IUD, barrier protection, a contraceptive implantation system (e.g., Norplant), oral contraceptive pills, or who, in the investigator's judgment, will continue to be sexually inactive.
- Patients who have received haloperidol decanoate or fluphenazine decanoate within the last 10 weeks.
- Patients who have a central nervous system (CNS) neoplasm, uncontrolled metabolic, demyelinating or progressive degenerative disorder, active CNS infection, or any progressive neurological disorder.
- Patients who are taking exogenous steroids.
- Patients who have ultra-fast rapid-cycling bipolar disorder, but do not formally meet DSM-IV criteria for bipolar disorder. This is designed to exclude patients with episode frequencies too high to permit objective quantification.
- Patients who are currently suicidal in the opinion of the investigator or have a score of greater than 4 on the suicide item of the (Montgomery-Asberg Rating Scale (MADRS).
- Patients who have been treated with any dose or duration of a tricyclic antidepressant within the last three months.

To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT00221975
United States, Ohio | |
University Hospitals of Cleveland | |
Cleveland, Ohio, United States, 44106 |
Principal Investigator: | Keming Gao, MD, PhD | Case Western Reserve University / University Hospitals of Cleveland |
Responsible Party: | Joseph Calabrese, MD, Director, Mood Disorders Program, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center |
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: | NCT00221975 |
Other Study ID Numbers: |
02T 183 |
First Posted: | September 22, 2005 Key Record Dates |
Last Update Posted: | December 3, 2014 |
Last Verified: | December 2014 |
Bipolar Disorder Bipolar and Related Disorders Mental Disorders Lamotrigine Valproic Acid Psychotropic Drugs Enzyme Inhibitors Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action Antimanic Agents Tranquilizing Agents |
Central Nervous System Depressants Physiological Effects of Drugs Anticonvulsants Calcium Channel Blockers Membrane Transport Modulators Calcium-Regulating Hormones and Agents Antipsychotic Agents Sodium Channel Blockers GABA Agents Neurotransmitter Agents |