Effects of Hydrocortisone in Patients With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT00039715. 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.
Data is sourced from official ClinicalTrials.gov public API records. Always review the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for the latest information.
Official title
Effect of Hydrocortisone Infusion on Hippocampal Glucose Metabolism, Neuropsychological Test Performance and Reexperiencing Symptoms in Patients With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether people who develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after a trauma have increased sensitivity to the effects of a stress hormone. Patients with PTSD have small hippocampal volume and deficits in hippocampal-mediated memory as compared to healthy people. However, it is unclear whether the smaller hippocampi are a consequence of PTSD or a risk factor for the development of PTSD. Some researchers believe that people who develop PTSD have an increase in cortisol levels during traumatic experiences and that this could be neurotoxic to the hippocampus. Others hypothesize that increased sensitivity of glucocorticoid receptors to cortisol, regardless of the cortisol levels, could lead to neurotoxic damage to the hippocampus. This study will compare responses to a stress hormone in patients with PTSD, participants who have experienced trauma but do not have PTSD, and healthy volunteers. Participants will be screened with a medical and psychiatric interview, physical examination, blood tests, electrocardiogram, and an emotional intelligence evaluation. Those eligible for the study will be asked to collect urine and saliva samples for 3 days. Participation will also include blood draws, a PET scan (brain imaging), an eye-blink test, neuropsychological testing, and other procedures. At another study visit, participants will undergo a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan (brain imaging), questionnaires, and other procedures.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT00039715
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Study type
- Observational
- Phase
- Not listed
- Enrollment
- 93 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Interventions
Not listed
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- Not listed
- 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
- May 31, 2002
- Primary completion
- Not listed
- Completion
- Aug 31, 2004
- Last update posted
- Mar 3, 2008
2002 – 2004
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) | Bethesda | Maryland | 20892 | — |
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 NCT00039715, 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 Mar 3, 2008 · Synced Sep 6, 2026
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Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT00039715 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.