Drug craving is the intense desire to consume drugs of abuse that promote compulsive drug use and cause drug relapse, following long-term drug withdrawal. Antidepressants like mirtazapine could be a real alternative therapy to attenuate or prevent cocaine withdrawal symptoms and drug craving. In the present study, we examined the efficacy of mirtazapine on cocaine craving in cocaine-detoxified patients during its maintenance phase. A two-arm randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial was scheduled for a complete 12-week period. A total of 64 cocaine-dependent individuals were randomly allocated into two groups: the placebo group (n = 32) and the mirtazapine (n = 32) groups. Both Cocaine Craving Questionnaire (CCQ-G) and the Symptom Check List 90 (SCL-90-R) were used to assess cocaine craving and the psychopathological status of patients, respectively. Assessments were performed once a week for 12 weeks during the study. Mirtazapine (30 mg/kg) was given daily during the 12 weeks of enduring drug withdrawal. A daily dosing regimen of mirtazapine (30 mg/kg) for 12 weeks significantly decrease the cocaine craving, cocaine use, and some psychiatric symptoms which included depression, anxiety, and mood-negative states along the 12 weeks that endured the study. These data suggest that mirtazapine given to cocaine-dependent patients for 12 weeks of drug withdrawal significantly decreases and controls cocaine-craving behavioral alterations. Furthermore, the present study demonstrates that mirtazapine reduces efficiently some co-morbid psychiatric symptoms that appear during cocaine withdrawal. These results argue in favor of using mirtazapine for treating cocaine addiction, reducing comorbid cocaine-withdrawal symptomology, and relieving drug craving in addicted subjects. Clinical trial number: NCT ID: NCT01949571.

对药物的渴望是一种强烈的欲望，即在长期戒断药物后，强烈渴望服用会促进强迫性药物使用并导致药物复发的滥用药物。像米氮平这样的抗抑郁药可能是一种真正的替代疗法，可以减轻或预防可卡因戒断症状和药物渴望。在本研究中，我们检查了米氮平在维持期对可卡因解毒患者的可卡因渴望的疗效。一项为期 12 周的两臂随机、安慰剂对照、双盲临床试验计划进行。总共 64 名可卡因依赖者被随机分为两组：安慰剂组（n  = 32）和米氮平（n = 32) 组。可卡因渴望问卷 (CCQ-G) 和症状检查表 90 (SCL-90-R) 分别用于评估患者的可卡因渴望和精神病理学状态。在研究期间每周进行一次评估，持续 12 周。在持续停药的 12 周内每天给予米氮平 (30 mg/kg)。持续 12 周的米氮平（30 毫克/千克）每日给药方案显着降低了对可卡因的渴望、可卡因的使用和一些精神症状，包括在研究的 12 周内出现的抑郁、焦虑和情绪消极状态。这些数据表明，米氮平给予可卡因依赖患者 12 周的药物戒断显着减少并控制了对可卡因的渴望行为改变。此外，本研究表明，米氮平可有效减少可卡因戒断期间出现的一些共病精神症状。这些结果支持使用米氮平治疗可卡因成瘾、减少共存的可卡因戒断症状和缓解成瘾受试者的药物渴望。临床试验编号：NCT ID：NCT01949571。