The Impact of Oxytocin on the Neurobiology of Anorexia Nervosa

February 9, 2022 updated by: University of Minnesota

Investigating the Impact of Oxytocin on the Neurobiological Underpinnings of Socioemotional Deficits in Anorexia Nervosa

This study will use a randomized, controlled, double-blind design involving the administration of intranasal oxytocin (INOT) or placebo to adults with anorexia nervosa, restricting subtype and age-matched controls prior to neuroimaging to assess the impact on frontolimbic brain activity in response to socioemotional stimuli as well as eating behavior in a test meal paradigm.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The primary objective of this investigation is to determine the impact of oxytocin (OT), a peptide hormone that influences social affiliation, on socioemotional neural circuitry and eating disorder behavior in anorexia nervosa (AN). Because socioemotional processing deficits appear to play a key role in AN, OT is implicated as a potential biological mechanism by which eating disorder behavior (e.g., restrictive eating) is maintained. Used as a probe, intranasal oxytocin (INOT) provides an innovative method for examining the short-term impact of OT on socioemotional neural processing disturbances and eating disorder behavior in AN. The proposed study tests a theoretical model of the role of OT in the maintenance of AN by using an INOT probe to determine, and potentially alter, neurobiological responses to socioemotional stimuli. Specifically, this study will use a randomized, controlled, double-blind design involving the administration of INOT or placebo to adults with AN restricting subtype and age-matched controls prior to neuroimaging to assess the impact on frontolimbic brain activity in response to socioemotional stimuli. The potential impact of INOT on restrictive eating will also be assessed in a subsequent test meal. We predict that for participants with AN, INOT, but not placebo, will normalize frontolimbic activation in response to social reward stimuli and prefrontal activation in response to social threat stimuli. In addition, the investigators predict that AN participants will display reduced restrictive eating in a test meal paradigm following INOT (but not placebo) administration. Finally, investigators predict that changes in restrictive eating following INOT administration will be mediated by altered frontolimbic responding to socioemotional cues. This investigation will provide an essential link uniting the data supporting the importance of socioemotional processing deficits in AN with the emerging role of INOT in altering the neural circuits involved in social behavior to test an innovative neurobiological maintenance model of AN.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
16

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Early Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Minnesota
      • Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, 55454
        • University of Minnesota - Dept of Psychiatry

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

14 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • All participants:

    1. Age > 18 years old
    2. Female (given the potential sex differences to endogenous OT to INOT)
    3. Ability to read and speak in English
    4. Right-handed

  • Anorexia nervosa participants:

    1. DSM-5 diagnosis of AN, restricting subtype (established by the SCID-5-RV),

    2. BMI < 18.5 kg/m2 within the past month

      Exclusion Criteria:

      All participants

    1. Medical instability or current pregnancy or lactation
    2. Current substance use disorder, psychosis, or bipolar-I disorder
    3. Contraindication for fMRI (e.g., implanted metal)
    4. History of neurological disorder/injury (e.g., stroke; head injury with > 10 minutes loss of consciousness)
    5. Food allergy that cannot be accommodated through substitutions to the laboratory test meal
    6. Lacking capacity to consent
    7. Contraindications for intranasal oxytocin administration
    8. Acute suicidality

    9. Psychoactive medication (e.g., antidepressants, antipsychotics)

      Exclusion for participants without anorexia nervosa

    1. Current DSM-5 Axis-I diagnosis or current or past eating disorder diagnosis
    2. BMI < 19.0

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Placebo Comparator: Intranasal Oxytocin Placebo
Intranasal placebo
Biological: Intranasal oxytocin
oxytocin is a peptide hormone that influences social affiliation
Experimental: Intranasal Oxytocin
Intranasal oxytocin
Biological: Intranasal oxytocin
oxytocin is a peptide hormone that influences social affiliation

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Test meal
Time Frame: Following intranasal oxytocin or placebo (within 1-3 hours)
Participants will complete a test meal
Following intranasal oxytocin or placebo (within 1-3 hours)
fMRI measures
Time Frame: Following intranasal oxytocin or placebo administration (within 1-3 hours)
Neural activation in regions of interest (ROIs) in socioemotional circuitry (i.e., ACC, amygdala, medial PFC, NAcc) in response to INOT or placebo and social threat vs. neutral tasks and social reward vs. neutral stimuli
Following intranasal oxytocin or placebo administration (within 1-3 hours)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of Minnesota

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Klarman Foundation

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Carol B Peterson, PhD, University of Minnesota
  • Principal Investigator: Ann F Haynos, PhD, University of Minnesota

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
September 25, 2018

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
April 30, 2021

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
April 30, 2021

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
January 22, 2018

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 22, 2018

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
January 29, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
February 11, 2022

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
February 9, 2022

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
February 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • PSYCH-2017-26002

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

Undecided

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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