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Can Oxytocin Enhance the Placebo Effect?
Plain-language guide to NCT02745522: phase 1 randomized trial of Oxytocin, 224 participants. Who took part, design and what was measured.
Key Facts
- Registry ID
- NCT02745522
- Phase
- phase 1
- Status
- completed
- Start
- 2015-12
- Completion (planned or actual)
- 2017-03
- Participants
- 224 (actual)
- Design
- randomized, double-blind, basic_science
- Conditions studied
- Oxytocin Effect on Memory Performance During Phase 1; Oxytocin Effect on Memory Performance During Phase 2; Oxytocin Effect on Memory Performance During Phase 3; Oxytocin Effect on Memory Performance During Phase 4
- Results posted
- not yet
What This Study Did, in Plain Language
What Was Tested
This registered phase 1 trial tested Oxytocin.
The current study aimed to investigate whether oxytocin (OXT) had effect on placebo effect.
It had two arms (groups): Oxytocin (experimental) and Placebo (placebo comparator).
Oxytocin nasal spray.
Placebo nasal spray.
The registry classes the interventions as drug.
More on the Plan
The current study included three phases to investigate oxytocin effect on placebo effect: 1.
Memory performance was included as dependant factor.
All subjects completed a range of questionnaires measuring personality and affective traits and levels of anxiety: State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Interpersonal Trust Scale(ITS).
Who Took Part
The registry lists 224 actual participants took part.
It was open to men only aged from 18 years up to 30 years.
Healthy volunteers could join, not only people with the condition.
Examples of who could join: Healthy subjects without past or current psychiatric or neurological disorder.
The full record lists 1 inclusion and 3 exclusion criteria; among the exclusions: history of head injury;; medical or psychiatric illness.
How the Study Was Run
The set-up was randomized, parallel-group and double-blind.
The participants were allocated by chance, so the Oxytocin group and the comparison group should start out alike.
The Oxytocin group and the comparison group ran side by side rather than switching.
As a double-blind Oxytocin study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.
Those kept unaware of assignments: participant and investigator.
It started in 2015-12 with completion listed for 2017-03.
It ran at 1 site in China.
Its stated primary purpose is basic science.
What Was Measured
Researchers chose this as the main measure: Memory performance in different phases (time frame: 1 hour).
What This Means in Plain Language
Put simply, this is a phase 1, randomized trial of Oxytocin in 224 people.
The trial is marked completed; no results are posted to the registry yet, so nothing here describes outcomes.
More context: the Oxytocin compound page, all human trials.
Our Notes on the Compound
Oxytocin: A peptide hormone with established obstetric medical uses and a less settled role in research on behavior, sexual function and appetite.
Related Pages
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov record. This explanation is written by PeptideWhiz from the public record. For research and education only. Not medical advice; no dosing information is given.