Study of Ibuprofen Effects on Brain Function

January 26, 2018 updated by: Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Inc.

Placebo-controlled, Dose-response Study of Ibuprofen Effects on Brain Function

The aim of this project is to determine whether the acute oral administration of Ibuprofen changes the activation pattern in the amygdala and other brain structures during functional magnetic resonance imaging. The investigators use a double-blind, randomized, repeated-measures design. Each of the 20 healthy control subjects will be tested three times and receive placebo, 200 mg or 600 mg dose of ibuprofen p.o. The study will consist of 4 sessions: a baseline screening session and 3 testing sessions scheduled 1-2 weeks apart. Each of these individuals will undergo a multi-level assessment based on the RDoC approach that consists of (a) a standardized diagnostic assessment, (b) self-report questionnaires assessing the positive and negative valence domains as well as interoception, (c) behavioral tasks assessing reward-related processing, avoidance, and aversive processing, cognition, and interoception; (d) physiological measurements consisting of facial emotion expression monitoring, heart rate and respiration, (e) functional magnetic resonance imaging focusing on reward-related processing, fear conditioning and extinction, cognitive inhibition, and interoceptive processing, and (f) biomarker assessments.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Occasional OTC nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) use is prevalent in the United States (25% aspirin, 9% ibuprofen, and 2% naproxen). An estimated 36 million Americans use over-the-counter (OTC) analgesics daily, however, considering the widespread use of analgesic agents, the overall incidence of serious drug-drug interactions involving these agents has been relatively low. Neuroinflammatory mechanisms have been implicated in depression, and NSAIDs have been found effective in animal models of depression both in monotherapy and when used to augment antidepressant drugs. However, results with NSAIDs have been mixed in human observational studies, with both better and worse depression outcomes reported. In animal studies, mice injected with BCG showed an increase in the total immobility time during the forced swim test (FST) and the tail suspension test (TST) and an increase in cerebral PGE2 and NO levels. Ibuprofen decreased the total immobility time during FST and TST and decreased cerebral PGE2 and NO levels, which was comparable to fluoxetine's effect. This would suggest that ibuprofen might have an antidepressant effect through inhibition of PGE2 and NO production.

Some studies have demonstrated the success of augmentation of antidepressant therapy with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) in decreasing depressive symptoms. However, little is known about the benefit of NSAID therapy on depressive symptoms. In a recent meta-analysis, using multivariable regression analysis a detectable effect in lowering PHQ-9 score in the ibuprofen or naproxen group (-0.31) and Celebrex group (-0.61) (p= .0390) was observed. However, in a study with cognitively normal volunteers age 70 and older with a family history of Alzheimer-like dementia who were randomly assigned to receive celecoxib 200 mg twice daily, naproxen sodium 220 mg twice daily, or placebo the investigators found no treatment effect on geriatric depression scores over time in the subgroup of participants with significant depressive symptoms at baseline. Moreover, there is some concern that anti-inflammatory drugs inhibit the antidepressant effects of SSRIs. In the only published fMRI study, ten healthy subjects underwent a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, cross-over phFMRI study with somatosensory painful stimulation of the right median nerve. These authors reported a task-related increase of BOLD signal between drug and placebo in the primary somatosensory area and the middle frontal gyrus that was not related to changes in subjective pain scores. Thus there is some evidence that ibuprofen influences the BOLD response in specific pain-related brain areas. Taken together, there is mixed evidence for the effect of ibuprofen on mood and no data on its effect on the emotion circuitry.

Hypotheses:

  1. The activation pattern in the amygdala during risk-taking decision-making will be attenuated by ibuprofen in a dose dependent manner.
  2. The activation pattern in the amygdala during anticipatory emotional arousal will be attenuated by ibuprofen in a dose dependent manner.
  3. The activation pattern in the amygdala during emotional face processing will be attenuated by ibuprofen in a dose dependent manner.
  4. The behavioral response during tasks assessing emotional and cognitive processes including positive and negative valence and reward based learning will be modulated by ibuprofen in a dose dependent manner.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

24

Phase

  • Phase 2
  • Phase 3

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

    • Oklahoma
      • Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States, 74136
        • Laureate Institute for Brain Research

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

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 55 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Male, or female
  2. Between the ages of 18-50.
  3. In good general health

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Subjects who report a history of any mental health disorder such as dysthymia, simple phobia, major depression, obsessive compulsive disorder or panic disorder as a primary diagnosis currently or within 6 months prior to the screening visit.
  2. Subjects with a history of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or a bipolar disorder.
  3. Subjects who report DSM-V criteria for substance use disorder (alcohol or drugs) currently or within 6 months prior to screening
  4. Subjects who have a positive urine illicit drug screen.
  5. Subjects that regularly (more than 15 days for past 30 days) use NSAIDS and have not used NSAIDS in the previous 5 days.
  6. Subjects with a history of clinically significant hepatic cardiac, renal, neurologic, cerebrovascular, metabolic or pulmonary disease, gastric disease.
  7. Subjects who have taken psychotropic drugs or antidepressants (including monoamine oxidase inhibitors, MAOI's) within the last year
  8. Subjects with a history of seizure disorders (except for febrile seizures in childhood).
  9. Subjects who, in the investigator's judgment pose a current, serious suicidal or homicidal risk or have made a suicide attempt within the past 6 months.
  10. Women who have a positive serum HCG pregnancy test at screen visit or who are lactating or planning to become pregnant within the next 18 weeks following the screen visit.
  11. Women who are currently menstruating.
  12. The subject suffers from claustrophobia, or phobia for injections or blood.
  13. Magnetic Resonance Imaging related exclusion criteria: cardiac pacemaker, metal fragments in eyes/skin/body (shrapnel), subjects who have ever been a metal worker/welder; history of eye surgery/eyes washed out because of metal, aortic/aneurysm clips, prosthesis, by-pass surgery/coronary artery clips, hearing aid, heart valve replacement, subjects who are in the first trimester of pregnancy, subjects with an I.U.D. (birth control device), a shunt (ventricular or spinal), electrodes, metal plates/pins/screws/wires, or neuro/bio-stimulators (TENS unit).

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: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Placebo Comparator: Placebo
Subjects will receive one dose of placebo (sugar pill) at one of the three testing sessions . Placebo capsules will be produced in the same manner as the ibuprofen by a local compounding pharmacy in Tulsa, OK.
On the day of sessions 2-4, subjects will receive either placebo, 200 mg of ibuprofen or 600 mg of ibuprofen after signing the consent form for this study in a randomized, double-blind, counter balanced order. Each study session will occur 1-2 weeks following the previous session. Ibuprofen will be capsuled, and identical placebo capsules will be produced.
Other Names:
  • Placebo
Active Comparator: Ibuprofen, 200mg
Subjects will receive one oral dose of 200mg at one of the three testing sessions. Ibuprofen capsules will be produced by a local compounding pharmacy in Tulsa, OK.
On the day of sessions 2-4, subjects will receive either placebo, 200 mg of ibuprofen or 600 mg of ibuprofen after signing the consent form for this study in a randomized, double-blind, counter balanced order. Each study session will occur 1-2 weeks following the previous session. Ibuprofen will be capsuled, and identical placebo capsules will be produced.
Other Names:
  • Placebo
Active Comparator: Ibuprofen, 600mg
Subjects will receive one oral dose of 600mg at one of the three testing sessions. Ibuprofen capsules will be produced by a local compounding pharmacy in Tulsa, OK.
On the day of sessions 2-4, subjects will receive either placebo, 200 mg of ibuprofen or 600 mg of ibuprofen after signing the consent form for this study in a randomized, double-blind, counter balanced order. Each study session will occur 1-2 weeks following the previous session. Ibuprofen will be capsuled, and identical placebo capsules will be produced.
Other Names:
  • Placebo

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Dose-dependent Differences in the BOLD Response to fMRI Tasks in the Amygdala
Time Frame: 3-6 weeks
Change in amygdala activation following administration of placebo, 200mg of ibuprofen or 600mg of ibuprofen
3-6 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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

July 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

October 1, 2015

Study Completion (Actual)

October 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 22, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 22, 2015

First Posted (Estimate)

July 23, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

February 23, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 26, 2018

Last Verified

January 1, 2018

More Information

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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