Caffeine and the Autonomic Nervous System

March 4, 2026 updated by: Prof. Dr. Stefan Brunner, LMU Klinikum

Impact of Caffeine Consumption on Markers of the Autonomic Nervous System

Caffeine consumption has been linked to dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. In this study the investigators analyze the effects of caffeine containing drinks (including energy drinks and coffee) on ECG based parameters of the autonomic nervous system.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

20

Phase

  • Not Applicable

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

  • Germany
      • Munich, Germany
        • University Hospital Munich (LMU Klinikum)

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 and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • healthy individuals
  • > 18 years

Exclusion Criteria:

  • known cardiovascular disease
  • other diseases which may influence the autonomic nervous system
  • medication which may influence the autonomic nervous system
  • prior caffeine consumption (<24 hours)

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: Diagnostic
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Sequential Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Coffee
Oral consumption of 3 cups of coffee containing 240 mg caffeine
Dietary supplement: caffeine
oral consumption
Experimental: Energy drink
Oral consumption of 750 mL of a commercial energy drink containing 240 mg caffeine
Dietary supplement: caffeine
oral consumption
Placebo Comparator: Placebo
Oral consumption of 750 mL water
Dietary supplement: caffeine
oral consumption

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Heart rate (HR)
Time Frame: 2 hours
ECG-based analysis of heart rate (beats per minute)
2 hours

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Periodic repolarization dynamics (PRD)
Time Frame: 2 hours
ECG-based analysis of repolarization instability (deg²)
2 hours

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

LMU Klinikum

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 (Actual)

April 1, 2021

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 30, 2021

Study Completion (Actual)

June 30, 2021

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 30, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 10, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

May 14, 2021

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 6, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 4, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • CaffeineLMU

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

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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