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Cortisol Suppression and Startle Responses in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

NCT01477762 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 165

Last updated 2017-04-18

Study results available
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Summary

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) occurs in some people after exposure to events that cause extreme fear or helplessness. The incidence of war zones worldwide and the prevalence of violence in large cities in the U.S., increases the likelihood that people will experience a traumatizing event in their lifetime. About 1 in 10 people who survive such events will develop PTSD, while most people will get better over time. This suggests that some people may have biological vulnerabilities that make it harder for them to recover. One of these biological risk factors may be related to how stress hormones work in people who get sick. Another is how people react to things that make them afraid or nervous, investigators have found that PTSD patients have higher than normal fear reactions. The part of the brain that reacts to fearful stimulation is linked to stress hormones; the purpose of this study is to examine how these systems interact. The study will suppress stress hormones (cortisol) production in one group of participants, while another will get a placebo. When their cortisol is suppressed, the participants will undergo a startle study to see if their fear responses are decreased. Investigators expect that people PTSD will show a normal fear response when their cortisol levels are reduced, similar to people without PTSD. This research can help discover new medicines for people with PTSD.

Conditions

  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Interventions

DRUG

Dexamethasone

One tablet of 0.5 mg dexamethasone will be taken ten hours prior to completing study assessments.

DRUG

Placebo

One placebo tablet will be taken ten hours prior to completing study assessments.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

    collaborator NIH

  • Emory University

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Tanja Jovanovic, PhD · Emory University

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
TRIPLE
Model
CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
65 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2011-11-30
Primary Completion
2015-07-31
Completion
2015-07-31

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Entities

Drugs

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT01477762 on ClinicalTrials.gov