Rationale: Modafinil (Provigil) is a wake-promoting drug characterized by cognitive enhancing abilities. Recent clinical data have supported the use of modafinil for treatment of chronic psychostimulant addiction and relapse prevention.
Materials and methods: We used an intravenous methamphetamine (meth) self-administration procedure to assess the dose-dependent effects of modafinil on reinstatement following abstinence and after extinction on conditioned-cue and meth-primed reinstatement of meth seeking.
Results: Modafinil attenuated active lever responding in multiple reinstatement conditions-context-induced, conditioned cue, and meth prime. The most pronounced and consistent effect was on meth-primed reinstatement, and modafinil did not reinstate meth seeking when tested alone.
Discussion: These findings support clinical findings in humans that modafinil may be an effective therapeutic agent for the prevention of relapse in abstinent meth users.