Clinical Medication Development for Bipolar Disorder and Alcohol Use Disorders

Inclusion Criteria

• Outpatient men and women age 18-70 years old with bipolar I or II disorder or schizoaffective disorder (bipolar type)
• English or Spanish speaking
• Current diagnosis of alcohol use disorder with at least moderate severity (DSM-5 terminology)
• Alcohol use of at least an average of 28 drinks a week if male or an average of 21 drinks per week if female and an average of 3 drinking days a week in the 28 days prior to intake
• Current mood stabilizer therapy (defined as lithium, lamotrigine, carbamazepine, oxcarbazepine or an atypical antipsychotic) with stable dose for ≥ 28 days prior to randomization or valproate/divalproex at a stable dose for ≥ 90 days (longer period due to data suggesting valproate may decrease alcohol use in BPD)
• Diagnosis of substance use disorder other than alcohol, caffeine or nicotine is allowed if 1) alcohol is the self-identified substance of choice and 2) severity of other substance use disorder is ≤ moderate

Exclusion Criteria

• Mood disorders other than bipolar I or II disorders or schizoaffective disorder bipolar type (e.g. bipolar NOS, cyclothymic disorders, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder depressive type, or unipolar depression based on the SCID); other disorders (e.g. anxiety, will be allowed)
• Baseline HRSD17 or YMRS scores ≥ 35 to exclude those with very severe mood symptoms at baseline
• Evidence of clinically significant alcohol withdrawal symptoms defined as a CIWA-Ar score of ≥ 10
• Current (last 28 days) treatment with naltrexone, acamprosate, disulfiram, or topiramate as these may also decrease alcohol use
• Oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy. This exclusion is due to a possible interaction with pregnenolone.
• Women with hormone sensitive conditions such as breast cancer, uterine cancer, ovarian cancer, endometriosis, uterine fibroids. These persons are excluded because pregnenolone is converted to estrogens.
• Vulnerable populations (e.g. pregnant, nursing, cognitively impaired, incarcerated)
• High risk for suicide defined as > 1 attempt in past 12 months that required medical attention, any attempt in the past 3 months or current suicidal ideation with plan and intent such that outpatient care is precluded
• Intensive outpatient treatment (defined as ≥3 visits each week) for substance abuse (AA, NA meetings, or less intensive counseling at baseline will be allowed)
• Severe/unstable condition (e.g. cirrhosis, poorly controlled hypertension) or laboratory/physical exam findings consistent with serious illness (e.g. abnormal electrolytes) or AST or ALT >3 times normal