Blunted 5-HT1A-receptor agonist-induced corticotropin and cortisol responses after long-term ipsapirone and fluoxetine administration to healthy subjects

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of ACTH (Corticotropin), published as a randomized controlled trial.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 34 subjects were involved.

PubMed indexes the participants as adults, both men and women.

Ten healthy subjects received ipsapirone CR or fluoxetine, and eight received placebo in a double-blind manner.

From day 22 to day 34 all subjects received placebo in a simple-blind manner.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and parallel-group study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got ACTH (Corticotropin) and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

As a double-blind ACTH (Corticotropin) study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

Some subjects received a placebo instead of ACTH (Corticotropin), giving a reference point.

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

This was a randomized parallel-group study.

A third ipsapirone challenge test was performed on day 35.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Adrenocorticotropic Hormone, Anti-Anxiety Agents, Fluoxetine, Hydrocortisone, Pyrimidines, Receptors, Serotonin and Serotonin Receptor Agonists.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of ACTH (Corticotropin) in 34 subjects.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

Its findings take up roughly 9 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 1998 (Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics), a journal based in United States.

More context: the ACTH (Corticotropin) compound page, all human trials.