Evaluation of the CCK-4 model as a challenge paradigm in a population of healthy volunteers within a proof-of-concept study

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Cholecystokinin (CCK), published as a clinical trial.

To provide a basis for the use of the CCK-4 model in proof-of-concept studies, the researchers investigated CCK-4-induced panic according to different criteria in 85 healthy volunteers who underwent a CCK-4 bolus injection.

Why It Was Studied

Experimental panic induction with cholecystokinin-tetrapeptide (CCK-4) has been established as a model to study the pathophysiology of panic disorder and might serve as a tool to asses the antipanic potential of novel anxiolytic compounds.

However, assessment of CCK-4-induced panic does not follow consistent rules.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 85 volunteers were involved.

The age groups tagged for this paper are adults, men only.

The researchers assessed panicker/non-panicker ratios according to different panic criteria and explored whether differences in cardiovascular and neuroendocrine responses to CCK-4 paralleled subjective panic responses.

Subjective panic responses were measured with the Acute Panic Inventory (API) and the Panic Symptom Scale (PSS).

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a parallel-group study.

Groups ran in parallel: each of the volunteers stayed in one arm throughout.

Heart rate, blood pressure, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol were assessed concomitantly.

What Was Measured

However, assessment of CCK-4-induced panic does not follow consistent rules.

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Adrenocorticotropic Hormone, Analysis of Variance, Blood Pressure, Heart Rate, Hydrocortisone, Models, Biological and Models, Psychological.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a parallel-group study of Cholecystokinin (CCK) in 85 volunteers.

Results are reported in around 4 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2007 (Psychopharmacology), a journal based in Germany.

More context: the Cholecystokinin (CCK) compound page, all human trials.