Effects of Intranasal Oxytocin Administration on Social Influence Effects on Pain

NCT03060031 | Completed Phase 1 FDA Drug

• 1 other identifier: GRANT11076934
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 51
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This experiment will explore the joint effects of social information, social support, associative learning, and oxytocin on the development of placebo analgesia. The investigators predict that socially transmitted placebo effects will be enhanced by nasal administration of oxytocin, whereas associative learning effects on pain will not be altered by this pharmacological manipulation

Conditions

Pain

Keywords

Oxytocin

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Change in pain expectation rating score made on a Visual Analog Scale (VAS) after administration of Oxytocin vs. Placebo

  Self reported expectation of pain intensity using the VAS ranging from 0-100 (with 0 representing "no pain at all" and 100 representing "most intense pain imaginable (in the context of the experiment)).

  Measured during pain tasks at session 1 (within one month of screening survey completion) and 2 which will be within one week of each other.

• Change in pain rating score made on a Visual Analog Scale (VAS) after administration of Oxytocin vs. Placebo

  Self reported pain intensity using the VAS ranging from 0-100 (with 0 representing "no pain at all" and 100 representing "most intense pain imaginable (in the context of the experiment)).

  Measured during pain tasks at session 1(within one month of screening survey completion) and 2 which will be within one week of each other.

• Change in pain unpleasantness rating score during hand holding and control conditions made on a Visual Analog Scale (VAS) after administration of Oxytocin vs. Placebo

  Self reported pain unpleasantness using the VAS ranging from 0-100 (with 0 representing "no pain at all" and 100 representing "most intense pain imaginable (in the context of the experiment)).

  Measured during pain tasks at session 1 (within one month of screening survey completion)and 2 which will be within one week of each other.

Study Arms (2)

Oxytocin

EXPERIMENTAL

Each participant will undergo pain tasks after self-administration of oxytocin

Drug: Oxytocin

Placebo

PLACEBO COMPARATOR

Each participant will undergo pain tasks after self-administration of placebo

Drug: Placebo

Interventions

Oxytocin DRUG

Oxytocin intranasal administration, 40 IU, 5 puffs per nostril at 4 IU per puff delivered approximately 45 minutes prior to pain tasks.

Also known as: Syntocinon

Oxytocin

Placebo DRUG

Placebo intranasal administration, 5 puffs per nostril delivered approximately 45 minutes prior to pain tasks

Placebo

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 40 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Subject is a volunteer between 18 and 40 years of age.
• If female, subject is non-lactating, not pregnant, and using a reliable contraception method
• Subject is able to read and speak English.
• Subject is able and willing to provide written informed consent.
• Subject is able to understand and follow the instructions of the investigator and understand all screening questionnaires.
• Subject is in good health.
• For participants to be eligible for all tasks of the study, the participant must have a romantic partner and be willing to bring the partner to the study session.

You may not qualify if:

• Tests positive on the 14 panel poly-substance urine drug screen for illicit substances (e.g., marijuana (THC), cocaine (COC), phencyclidine (PCP), amphetamine (AMP), ecstasy (MDMA), methamphetamine (Mamp), opiates (OPI), oxycodone (OXY), methadone (MTD), barbiturates (BAR), benzodiazepines (BZO), buprenorphine (BUP), tricyclic antidepressants (TCA), propoxyphene (PPX))
• Chronic Pain
• Do not have the ability to tolerate heat pain applied to the forearm
• Have temporary abnormal levels of pain
• Have score of \> 19 using the Center for Disease and Epidemiology Depression Scale
• Current treatment (e.g., medications or therapy) for psychiatric disorders, including mood, anxiety, substance abuse, Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), psychosis; Neurological disorders (e.g., taking dopamine agonists for Parkinson's); Cardiovascular disease or medication (e.g., taking ACE (angiotensin-converting-enzyme) inhibitors for cardiac remodeling)
• Frequent smoking (\> 5 cigarettes / day); frequent alcohol use (\>14 drinks / week); frequent migraines (\> 5 / month on average) or a history of neurologic disease or neuropathic pain.
• Any allergy to Oxytocin

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Colorado, Boulder: lead

Study Sites (1)

Clinical Translational Research Center

Boulder, Colorado, 80309, United States

Location

Related Publications (35)

• Montgomery GH, Kirsch I. Classical conditioning and the placebo effect. Pain. 1997 Aug;72(1-2):107-13. doi: 10.1016/s0304-3959(97)00016-x.

  PMID: 9272794 BACKGROUND

• Morton DL, Watson A, El-Deredy W, Jones AK. Reproducibility of placebo analgesia: Effect of dispositional optimism. Pain. 2009 Nov;146(1-2):194-8. doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2009.07.026. Epub 2009 Aug 18.

  PMID: 19692178 BACKGROUND

• Watson A, El-Deredy W, Iannetti GD, Lloyd D, Tracey I, Vogt BA, Nadeau V, Jones AK. Placebo conditioning and placebo analgesia modulate a common brain network during pain anticipation and perception. Pain. 2009 Sep;145(1-2):24-30. doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2009.04.003. Epub 2009 Jun 11.

  PMID: 19523766 BACKGROUND

• Watson A, El-Deredy W, Vogt BA, Jones AK. Placebo analgesia is not due to compliance or habituation: EEG and behavioural evidence. Neuroreport. 2007 May 28;18(8):771-5. doi: 10.1097/WNR.0b013e3280c1e2a8.

  PMID: 17471064 BACKGROUND

• Petrovic P, Kalso E, Petersson KM, Ingvar M. Placebo and opioid analgesia-- imaging a shared neuronal network. Science. 2002 Mar 1;295(5560):1737-40. doi: 10.1126/science.1067176. Epub 2002 Feb 7.

  PMID: 11834781 BACKGROUND

• Wager TD, Rilling JK, Smith EE, Sokolik A, Casey KL, Davidson RJ, Kosslyn SM, Rose RM, Cohen JD. Placebo-induced changes in FMRI in the anticipation and experience of pain. Science. 2004 Feb 20;303(5661):1162-7. doi: 10.1126/science.1093065.

  PMID: 14976306 BACKGROUND

• Zubieta JK, Bueller JA, Jackson LR, Scott DJ, Xu Y, Koeppe RA, Nichols TE, Stohler CS. Placebo effects mediated by endogenous opioid activity on mu-opioid receptors. J Neurosci. 2005 Aug 24;25(34):7754-62. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0439-05.2005.

  PMID: 16120776 BACKGROUND

• Colloca L, Tinazzi M, Recchia S, Le Pera D, Fiaschi A, Benedetti F, Valeriani M. Learning potentiates neurophysiological and behavioral placebo analgesic responses. Pain. 2008 Oct 15;139(2):306-314. doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2008.04.021. Epub 2008 Jun 6.

  PMID: 18538928 BACKGROUND

• Kirsch I. Conditioning, expectancy, and the placebo effect: comment on Stewart-Williams and Podd (2004). Psychol Bull. 2004 Mar;130(2):341-3; discussion 344-5. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.130.2.341.

  PMID: 14979776 BACKGROUND

• Stewart-Williams S, Podd J. The placebo effect: dissolving the expectancy versus conditioning debate. Psychol Bull. 2004 Mar;130(2):324-40. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.130.2.324.

  PMID: 14979775 BACKGROUND

• Voudouris NJ, Peck CL, Coleman G. The role of conditioning and verbal expectancy in the placebo response. Pain. 1990 Oct;43(1):121-128. doi: 10.1016/0304-3959(90)90057-K.

  PMID: 2277714 BACKGROUND

• Rescorla RA. Pavlovian conditioning. It's not what you think it is. Am Psychol. 1988 Mar;43(3):151-60. doi: 10.1037//0003-066x.43.3.151. No abstract available.

  PMID: 3364852 BACKGROUND

• Schoenbaum G, Roesch M. Orbitofrontal cortex, associative learning, and expectancies. Neuron. 2005 Sep 1;47(5):633-6. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2005.07.018.

  PMID: 16129393 BACKGROUND

• Balleine BW, O'Doherty JP. Human and rodent homologies in action control: corticostriatal determinants of goal-directed and habitual action. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2010 Jan;35(1):48-69. doi: 10.1038/npp.2009.131.

  PMID: 19776734 BACKGROUND

• Ostlund SB, Balleine BW. Lesions of medial prefrontal cortex disrupt the acquisition but not the expression of goal-directed learning. J Neurosci. 2005 Aug 24;25(34):7763-70. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1921-05.2005.

  PMID: 16120777 BACKGROUND

• Balleine BW, Dickinson A. Goal-directed instrumental action: contingency and incentive learning and their cortical substrates. Neuropharmacology. 1998 Apr-May;37(4-5):407-19. doi: 10.1016/s0028-3908(98)00033-1.

  PMID: 9704982 BACKGROUND

• Schoenbaum G, Roesch MR, Stalnaker TA, Takahashi YK. A new perspective on the role of the orbitofrontal cortex in adaptive behaviour. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2009 Dec;10(12):885-92. doi: 10.1038/nrn2753. Epub 2009 Nov 11.

  PMID: 19904278 BACKGROUND

• Yang J, Liang JY, Li P, Pan YJ, Qiu PY, Zhang J, Hao F, Wang DX. Oxytocin in the periaqueductal gray participates in pain modulation in the rat by influencing endogenous opiate peptides. Peptides. 2011 Jun;32(6):1255-61. doi: 10.1016/j.peptides.2011.03.007. Epub 2011 Mar 23.

  PMID: 21439337 BACKGROUND

• Ge Y, Lundeberg T, Yu LC. Blockade effect of mu and kappa opioid antagonists on the anti-nociception induced by intra-periaqueductal grey injection of oxytocin in rats. Brain Res. 2002 Feb 15;927(2):204-7. doi: 10.1016/s0006-8993(01)03346-7.

  PMID: 11821014 BACKGROUND

• Yang J, Li P, Liang JY, Pan YJ, Yan XQ, Yan FL, Hao F, Zhang XY, Zhang J, Qiu PY, Wang DX. Oxytocin in the periaqueductal grey regulates nociception in the rat. Regul Pept. 2011 Aug 8;169(1-3):39-42. doi: 10.1016/j.regpep.2011.04.007. Epub 2011 May 3.

  PMID: 21545817 BACKGROUND

• Reeta Kh, Mediratta PK, Rathi N, Jain H, Chugh C, Sharma KK. Role of kappa- and delta-opioid receptors in the antinociceptive effect of oxytocin in formalin-induced pain response in mice. Regul Pept. 2006 Jul 15;135(1-2):85-90. doi: 10.1016/j.regpep.2006.04.004. Epub 2006 May 19.

  PMID: 16712978 BACKGROUND

• Kosfeld M, Heinrichs M, Zak PJ, Fischbacher U, Fehr E. Oxytocin increases trust in humans. Nature. 2005 Jun 2;435(7042):673-6. doi: 10.1038/nature03701.

  PMID: 15931222 BACKGROUND

• Theodoridou A, Rowe AC, Penton-Voak IS, Rogers PJ. Oxytocin and social perception: oxytocin increases perceived facial trustworthiness and attractiveness. Horm Behav. 2009 Jun;56(1):128-32. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2009.03.019. Epub 2009 Apr 1.

  PMID: 19344725 BACKGROUND

• Zak PJ, Kurzban R, Matzner WT. Oxytocin is associated with human trustworthiness. Horm Behav. 2005 Dec;48(5):522-7. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2005.07.009. Epub 2005 Aug 18.

  PMID: 16109416 BACKGROUND

• Guastella AJ, Howard AL, Dadds MR, Mitchell P, Carson DS. A randomized controlled trial of intranasal oxytocin as an adjunct to exposure therapy for social anxiety disorder. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2009 Jul;34(6):917-23. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.01.005. Epub 2009 Feb 25.

  PMID: 19246160 BACKGROUND

• Heinrichs M, Baumgartner T, Kirschbaum C, Ehlert U. Social support and oxytocin interact to suppress cortisol and subjective responses to psychosocial stress. Biol Psychiatry. 2003 Dec 15;54(12):1389-98. doi: 10.1016/s0006-3223(03)00465-7.

  PMID: 14675803 BACKGROUND

• Bryant RA, Hung L, Guastella AJ, Mitchell PB. Oxytocin as a moderator of hypnotizability. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2012 Jan;37(1):162-6. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2011.05.010. Epub 2011 Jun 8.

  PMID: 21652150 BACKGROUND

• Alvares GA, Hickie IB, Guastella AJ. Acute effects of intranasal oxytocin on subjective and behavioral responses to social rejection. Exp Clin Psychopharmacol. 2010 Aug;18(4):316-21. doi: 10.1037/a0019719.

  PMID: 20695687 BACKGROUND

• Guastella AJ, Einfeld SL, Gray KM, Rinehart NJ, Tonge BJ, Lambert TJ, Hickie IB. Intranasal oxytocin improves emotion recognition for youth with autism spectrum disorders. Biol Psychiatry. 2010 Apr 1;67(7):692-4. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.09.020. Epub 2009 Nov 7.

  PMID: 19897177 BACKGROUND

• Unkelbach C, Guastella AJ, Forgas JP. Oxytocin selectively facilitates recognition of positive sex and relationship words. Psychol Sci. 2008 Nov;19(11):1092-4. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02206.x. No abstract available.

  PMID: 19076479 BACKGROUND

• Guastella AJ, Mitchell PB, Mathews F. Oxytocin enhances the encoding of positive social memories in humans. Biol Psychiatry. 2008 Aug 1;64(3):256-8. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2008.02.008. Epub 2008 Mar 17.

  PMID: 18343353 BACKGROUND

• Bartz JA, Zaki J, Ochsner KN, Bolger N, Kolevzon A, Ludwig N, Lydon JE. Effects of oxytocin on recollections of maternal care and closeness. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Dec 14;107(50):21371-5. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1012669107. Epub 2010 Nov 29.

  PMID: 21115834 BACKGROUND

• Bartz JA, Zaki J, Bolger N, Hollander E, Ludwig NN, Kolevzon A, Ochsner KN. Oxytocin selectively improves empathic accuracy. Psychol Sci. 2010 Oct;21(10):1426-8. doi: 10.1177/0956797610383439. Epub 2010 Sep 20. No abstract available.

  PMID: 20855907 BACKGROUND

• Singer T, Snozzi R, Bird G, Petrovic P, Silani G, Heinrichs M, Dolan RJ. Effects of oxytocin and prosocial behavior on brain responses to direct and vicariously experienced pain. Emotion. 2008 Dec;8(6):781-91. doi: 10.1037/a0014195.

  PMID: 19102589 BACKGROUND

• MacDonald E, Dadds MR, Brennan JL, Williams K, Levy F, Cauchi AJ. A review of safety, side-effects and subjective reactions to intranasal oxytocin in human research. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2011 Sep;36(8):1114-26. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2011.02.015. Epub 2011 Mar 23.

  PMID: 21429671 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Pain

Interventions

Oxytocin

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Neurologic Manifestations; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Pituitary Hormones, Posterior; Pituitary Hormones; Peptide Hormones; Hormones; Hormones, Hormone Substitutes, and Hormone Antagonists; Peptides; Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins

Study Officials

• Tor D Wager, Ph. D.

  University of Colorado, Boulder

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: phase 1
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, INVESTIGATOR
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Director, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory; Professor, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience and the Institute for Cognitive Science

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 8, 2017
• First Posted: February 23, 2017
• Study Start: June 21, 2017
• Primary Completion: March 5, 2019
• Study Completion: April 1, 2019
• Last Updated: June 25, 2019

Record last verified: 2019-06

Locations

US (1)