Classical Conditioning to Treat Allergic Airway Diseases
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT00032526. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.
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Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
Most clinicians who care for patients with inflammatory airway diseases such as allergic rhinitis and asthma are aware of the negative effects of certain sights, sounds and smells that can precipitate clinical exacerbations in certain susceptible patients. This is thought to be due to subconscious associations between these observable stimuli paired and actual exposure to allergens that induce clinical symptoms. The severity and duration of these symptoms are typically related to levels of anxiety and/or depression in affected patients. Classical conditioning of the immune response has been described in many animal and some human studies in association with administration of immunosuppressive drugs. In successfully conditioned individuals, subsequent exposure to the conditioning stimulus alone produces immunosuppressive changes similar to those caused by the drugs themselves. Since disease exacerbating conditioning appears to be prevalent in allergic patients, these conditions make an excellent human model for understanding the relationships between classical conditioning, psychological stress (particularly anxiety and depression) and immune regulation. Thus this proposal will seek to examine the hypothesis that antiinflammatory effects of pharmacotherapeutic agents can be classically conditioned and are clinically effective due to changes in immunoregulatory imbalances known to occur in patients with allergic airway diseases. The effectiveness of this therapeutic approach will be significantly affected by levels of psychological stress and individual suggestibility. This will be investigated with the following Specific Aims: (1). Determine the relative effectiveness of classical conditioning by a novel gustatory stimulus paired with immunosuppressive doses of corticosteroid on in vivo and in vitro immune responses (allergen - specific vs. general) of patients before, during and after classical conditioning correlated with level of clinical response; (2) Determine the role of neuroendocrine mechanisms (particularly catecholamines) on the inducibility and duration of the conditioned immune responses; and (3) Investigate the influence of psychological stress levels (including anxiety and depression) and/or suggestibility on baseline immune changes, success and duration of the classical conditioning. These data will help define parameters for classical conditioning in humans, establish a model to investigate mechanisms and serve as the basis for development of future interventional protocols for severe inflammatory diseases involving classical conditioning.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT00032526
- Recruitment status
- Not listed
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Enrollment
- Not listed
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Interventions
- Corticosteroids Drug
- Classical conditioning to corticosteroid Behavioral
Drug · Behavioral
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 18 Years to 65 Years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepts healthy volunteers
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- Not listed
- Primary completion
- Not listed
- Completion
- Not listed
- Last update posted
- Jun 23, 2005
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Texas Medical School | Houston | Texas | 77030 | Recruiting |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT00032526, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted Jun 23, 2005 · Synced Sep 25, 2026
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Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT00032526 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.