Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30680223›Full record

ArticlePilot and feasibility studies2019

Conditioning cortisol in humans: design and pilot study of a randomized controlled trial.

J Tekampe, H van Middendorp, F C G J Sweep, S H P P Roerink, A R M M Hermus, A W M Evers

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Article in Pilot and feasibility studies, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

J Tekampe1Health, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9555, 2300 RB, Leiden, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-8227-6718
H van Middendorp1Health, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9555, 2300 RB, Leiden, The Netherlands.
F C G J Sweep3Department of Laboratory Medicine, Radboud university medical center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
S H P P Roerink4Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud university medical center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
A R M M Hermus4Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud university medical center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
A W M Evers1Health, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9555, 2300 RB, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundConditioning of physiological responses can be achieved by repeatedly pairing a previously neutral conditioned stimulus with the administration of a pharmacologically salient unconditioned stimulus. This type of conditioning has been effective for specific immune and endocrine responses, but results with regard to conditioning of cortisol, a key stress-regulatory parameter, are currently unclear. This paper describes a pharmacological conditioning design, optimized for the examination of effects of cortisol conditioning under both basal conditions and in response to stress.

methodsA double-blind randomized controlled conditioning paradigm aimed at conditioning of cortisol is conducted in 48 healthy female volunteers. During the acquisition phase, a gustatory stimulus (conditioned stimulus) is paired with hydrocortisone (100 mg, capsulated, unconditioned stimulus) three times before being administered together with placebo during three evocation sessions. To investigate possible effects of cortisol conditioning in response to stress, participants are exposed to the Trier Social Stress Test during the third evocation session. Primary outcome measure of this study is the mean area under the curve of salivary cortisol during the first two evocation sessions. As secondary outcomes, self-reported affect and stress as well as alpha-amylase are investigated. A pilot study was conducted to ensure that this design is feasible to be used in a larger study. DISCUSSION: This study design provides an innovative opportunity to examine the conditioning of cortisol under basal conditions and in response to stress. Also, the possible effect of cortisol conditioning on secondary outcomes of self-reported affect and alpha-amylase can be investigated. If cortisol could successfully be conditioned, this would be of conceptual relevance, showing that hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis regulation can be influenced by associative learning processes. Eventually, this could also have important clinical implications for understanding and treating stress-related disorders in which HPA axis dysregulation might play a role.

trial registrationNederlands Trial Register, NTR4651. Registered on 29 July 2014.

Indexed as

Associative learningCortisolEndocrine conditioningHPA axisPlacebo effectStress

Identifiers

PMID30680223
PMCPMC6337859

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.