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OxytocinPhase 1RAGENCT04292444

Effects of Oxytocin on Cognitive and Reactive Fear

A Phase 1 study testing Oxytocin nasal spray in people with Oxytocin, run by University Hospital, Bonn at 1 site in Germany.

Unknown status

Status not confirmed. The sponsor has not verified this record for over two years, so it may be out of date.

Official record
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Trial summary

The study examines the (sub)regional specificity of anxiolytic oxytocin (OXT) effects on emotional face processing and reactive and cognitive fear. Preliminary data indicate that the Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products (RAGE) may regulate oxytocin transport into the brain. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 to 40 years, men onlyHealthy volunteers can take part
Conditions the study is for
Oxytocin
What is being tested?
Oxytocin nasal spray
Could I receive a placebo?
Yes, some participants may receive a placebo
How many people
60 participants
Where
1 siteGermany
Study dates
13 Dec 2019to May 2021
Phase
Phase 1
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 to 40 years
  • Men only
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Adult

Who may be able to join

  • RAGE polymorphism (-374 T/A: rs1800624; TT vs. TA/AA)
  • healthy male volunteers
  • right handed

Who cannot join

  • current psychiatric illness
  • current psychiatric medication or psychotherapy
  • MRI contraindication (e.g. metal in body, claustrophobia)

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

Germany1 site, 1 recruiting
  • Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology

    Bonn, 53105

    Dirk Scheele, PhD, Dirk.Scheele@ukbonn.de

    Recruiting

Other trials in Germany

About this study

Official title: Disentangling Effects of Oxytocin on Cognitive and Reactive Fear and the Moderating Role of the Receptor for Advanced Glycation End-products

The study examines the (sub)regional specificity of anxiolytic oxytocin (OXT) effects on emotional face processing and reactive and cognitive fear. Preliminary data indicate that the Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products (RAGE) may regulate oxytocin transport into the brain. Thus, the study aims to replicate previous observations of oxytocin effects on the processing of fearful faces in the centro-medial amygdala and to assess whether a RAGE polymorphism (-374 T/A: rs1800624; TT vs. TA/AA), that has been shown to alter transcriptional activity, modulates anxiolytic OXT effects.

Read the detailed description

So far, no study examined selective oxytocin (OXT) effects on reactive (midbrain periaqueductal gray (PAG), central amygdala (CeA), hypothalamus, and the midcingulate cortex (MCC)) and cognitive fear (ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), hippocampus, and basolateral amygdala) and the reward system (striatum) with high spatial resolution. Previous studies showed that 7T functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) results in a higher spatial resolution and specificity than 3T MRI in these brain regions and would thus allow for a more detailed characterization of the neural effects.

To disentangle (sub)region-specific effects of OXT on task-related activations of the cingulate structures, the amygdala, the striatum, PAG and VMPFC, the investigators plan to acquire ultra-high field 7T fMRI data from healthy male participants while they perform (i) an emotional face matching task and (ii) a flight initiation distance (FID) task involving fast- or slow-attacking virtual predators that elicit distinct activations in the reactive and cognitive fear circuits. Furthermore, participants will be pre-stratified depending on RAGE polymorphisms to elucidate possible RAGE-related differential OXT effects.

Conditions
Oxytocin
Being tested
Oxytocin nasal spray, Placebo
Keywords
fMRI, receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE), fear, 7T MRI

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Oxytocin nasal sprayDrug

    Intranasal administration of 24 International Units oxytocin 30 minutes before the start of the tasks.

  • PlaceboDrug

    The placebo nasal sprays contain identical ingredients except for the peptide itself (30 minutes before the start of the tasks).

Study groups in NCT04292444
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
RAGE polymorphism (TT)Experimental30 participants with the RAGE polymorphism (-374 T/A: rs1800624; TT) will be selected and scanned twice.
Receives: Drug: Oxytocin nasal spray; Drug: Placebo
RAGE polymorphism (TA/AA)Experimental30 participants with the RAGE polymorphism (-374 T/A: rs1800624; TA/AA) will be selected and scanned twice.
Receives: Drug: Oxytocin nasal spray; Drug: Placebo

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Neural substrates of emotion processing, measured via blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signal in the amygdala and striatum

    Functional magnetic resonance imaging will be performed to measure the BOLD signal in response to emotional face stimuli. The investigators specifically plan to investigate neural responses to emotional faces in amygdala and striatal subregions. The BOLD signal in response to fearful faces relative to neutral faces and happy faces relative to neutral will be compared between the oxytocin and placebo sessions. To examine effects of the Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products (RAGE), analyses of variance (ANOVAs) with the between subjects factor RAGE polymorphism (-374 T/A: rs1800624; TT vs. TA/AA) will be conducted on the second level. For analyses of fMRI data, default procedures of the software SPM12 will be adapted for ultra-high-field imaging. The family-wise error rate will be used to correct p-values for multiple comparisons and p < .05 will be considered significant.

    Measured: 30 minutes after nasal spray administration

  2. Neural responses in the flight initiation distance (FID) task

    Functional magnetic resonance imaging will be performed to measure the blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signal in a flight initiation distance (FID) task, involving fast-, medium- and slow-attacking virtual predators that elicit distinct activations in the reactive and cognitive fear circuits. BOLD signals to different predator velocities will be analyzed. Analyses will focus on regions-of-interest associated with the processing of cognitive fear (vmPFC, PCC, hippocampus, and basolateral amygdala) and reactive fear (midbrain PAG, central amygdala, hypothalamus, and the MCC) and the reward system (striatum). To examine effects of the Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products (RAGE), ANOVAs with the between-subject factor RAGE polymorphism (-374 T/A: rs1800624; TT vs. TA/AA) will be conducted on the 2nd level. For the fMRI data, default procedures of the software SPM12 will be adapted for ultra-high-field imaging.

    Measured: 45 minutes after nasal spray administration

  3. Flight distance and difficulty ratings in the flight initiation distance (FID) task

    Behavioral data of the FID task (flight distance and difficulty ratings ) will be analyzed using mixed ANOVAs in the software SPSS with treatment (oxytocin vs. placebo) as within-subject factor and RAGE polymorphism (TT vs. TA/AA) as between-subject factor. Post-hoc t-tests will be Bonferroni-corrected. Behavioral data will be correlated with fMRI data of the FID task.

    Measured: 45 minutes after nasal spray administration

Secondary outcomes (2)
  1. Oxytocin concentration in blood plasma

    Blood samples will be collected before and after the nasal spray administration to assess changes in oxytocin concentrations. Oxytocin concentrations will be analyzed using mixed ANOVAs in SPSS with time (pre vs. post) and treatment (oxytocin vs. placebo) as within-subject factors and RAGE polymorphism (TT vs. TA/AA) as between-subject factor.

    Measured: 10 minutes before nasal spray administration and 75 minutes after nasal spray administration

  2. Concentration of receptor for advanced glycation endproducts (extracellular domain) in blood plasma

    Blood samples will be collected before the nasal spray administration to assess the RAGE (extracellular domain) concentration in blood plasma.

    RAGE concentrations will be compared between RAGE polymorphisms (TT vs. TA/AA) with independent t-tests. Furthermore, the investigators plan to examine if the RAGE concentration moderates the effects of oxytocin on primary and secondary outcomes.

    Measured: 10 minutes before nasal spray administration

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted3 Mar 2020
  2. Study start13 Dec 2019
  3. Primary completionMay 2021 (estimated)
  4. Study completionMay 2021 (estimated)

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase 1
Primary purpose
Basic science
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Crossover
Model description
The study is designed as a double-blind, within-subject, placebo-controlled, non-clinical trial and will involve healthy male participants (n = 60), who will be scanned twice in a randomized order after a single dose of intranasal OXT (24 IU) or placebo. Furthermore participants will be pre-stratified based on a RAGE polymorphism (-374 T/A: rs1800624; n = 30 with TT alleles and n = 30 with TA/AA alleles).
Masking
Double blind
Who is masked
Participant, Investigator
Enrolment
60 participants (estimated)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT04292444
Sponsor's protocol ID
RAGE
Acronym
RAGE
Status last verified
Mar 2020
First submitted
27 Feb 2020
Last updated
12 Mar 2020
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
No

Publications

  • Hahn A, Kranz GS, Seidel EM, Sladky R, Kraus C, Kublbock M, Pfabigan DM, Hummer A, Grahl A, Ganger S, Windischberger C, Lamm C, Lanzenberger R. Comparing neural response to painful electrical stimulation with functional MRI at 3 and 7 T. Neuroimage. 2013 Nov 15;82:336-43. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.06.010. Epub 2013 Jun 12.

    PubMed 23769917
  • Hudson BI, Stickland MH, Futers TS, Grant PJ. Effects of novel polymorphisms in the RAGE gene on transcriptional regulation and their association with diabetic retinopathy. Diabetes. 2001 Jun;50(6):1505-11. doi: 10.2337/diabetes.50.6.1505.

    PubMed 11375354
  • Qi S, Hassabis D, Sun J, Guo F, Daw N, Mobbs D. How cognitive and reactive fear circuits optimize escape decisions in humans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Mar 20;115(12):3186-3191. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1712314115. Epub 2018 Mar 5.

    PubMed 29507207
  • Yamamoto Y, Liang M, Munesue S, Deguchi K, Harashima A, Furuhara K, Yuhi T, Zhong J, Akther S, Goto H, Eguchi Y, Kitao Y, Hori O, Shiraishi Y, Ozaki N, Shimizu Y, Kamide T, Yoshikawa A, Hayashi Y, Nakada M, Lopatina O, Gerasimenko M, Komleva Y, Malinovskaya N, Salmina AB, Asano M, Nishimori K, Shoelson SE, Yamamoto H, Higashida H. Vascular RAGE transports oxytocin into the brain to elicit its maternal bonding behaviour in mice. Commun Biol. 2019 Feb 25;2:76. doi: 10.1038/s42003-019-0325-6. eCollection 2019.

    PubMed 30820471
  • Hariri AR, Tessitore A, Mattay VS, Fera F, Weinberger DR. The amygdala response to emotional stimuli: a comparison of faces and scenes. Neuroimage. 2002 Sep;17(1):317-23. doi: 10.1006/nimg.2002.1179.

    PubMed 12482086

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A Phase 1 study testing Oxytocin nasal spray in people with Oxytocin, run by University Hospital, Bonn at 1 site in Germany.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 3 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: status not confirmed, as of the sponsor's last update on 12 Mar 2020. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in Germany. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

What does this phase mean?

Phase 1 studies test a treatment in a small group of people for the first time or in a new way, mainly to check safety and find the right dose.

Not every study follows the same path, and some studies (observational studies, device studies) have no phase.

Are results available for this study?

Results are not available in the source record.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

Contact Dirk Scheele, PhD (+49 (0)228 287 ext. 11151, Dirk.Scheele@ukbonn.de), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Neural substrates of emotion processing, measured via blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signal in the amygdala and striatum (time frame: 30 minutes after nasal spray administration). The study lists 3 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT04292444, which also lists 5 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 12 Mar 2020.

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