An interventional study of Endotoxin and Placebo in Sickness Behavior, sponsored by Karolinska Institutet. Completed. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 55 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2018-06-11.
Sponsored by Karolinska Institutet · Not applicable, Interventional, and Basic science
In this randomized double blind study, 52 healthy participants were injected with either 0.6 ng/kg body weight or placebo to test if changes in pain sensitivity is associated with change in neural activity using BOLD MR scanning.
52 healthy participants were included in this randomized double blind study. Participants were injected once, and randomized to injection with with the active component or placebo. Participants were recruited by advertising and screened through questionnaires and a health examination by a physician. They were asked not to engage in strenuous physical activities, sleep regular hours and refrain from alcohol the day before the experiment. If the participants felt ill, e.g. coming down with a cold, they were instructed to call and were rescheduled for a later appointment. C-reactive protein (CRP) was assessed to exclude participants having an ongoing infection on the experimental day. Pregnancy was also an exclusion criteria and a pregnancy test was administered for all female participants on arrival. Pain sensitivity measures were tested at baseline and at peak inflammatory response 1-2 hours after injection. Both deep and cutaneous pain at threshold and suprathreshold noxious levels were tested. Heat- and cold (cutaneous) pain sensitivity was assessed for threshold stimuli and intense noxious stimuli, as well as pressure (deep) pain thresholds and CPM (descending pain inhibition). These tests were conducted while the participants were in the MR-scanner to investigate neural correlates to change in pain sensitivity. Subjects filled out questionnaires at baseline, 90 minutes, 3.5 and 5 hours after injection.
The study and the procedures used in the study are described in detail here: https://openarchive.ki.se/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10616/44650/Thesis_Bianka_Karshikoff.pdf?sequence=8\&isAllowed=y
The following papers using data from this study is published:
Lindstedt F, Karshikoff B, Schalling M, Olgart Hoglund C, Ingvar M, Lekander M \& Kosek E. Serotonin-1A Receptor Polymorphism (rs6295) Associated with Thermal Pain Perception. PLOS ONE. 2012;7(8):e43221. Epub 2012/09/07.
Karshikoff B, Jensen KB, Kosek E, Kalpouzos G, Soop A, Ingvar M, Olgart Höglund C, Lekander M, Axelsson J. Why sickness hurts: A central mechanism for pain induced by peripheral inflammation. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity 2016 Oct;57:38-46.
Lekander M, Karshikoff B, Johansson E, Soop A, Fransson P, Lundström J N, Andreasson A, Ingvar M, Petrovic P, Axelsson J/Nilsonne G. Intrinsic functional connectivity of insular cortex and symptoms of sickness during acute experimental inflammation. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity 2016 Aug;56:34-41.
Andreasson A, Wicksell RK, Lodin K, Karshikoff B, Axelsson J, Lekander M. A Global Measure of Sickness Behavior: Development of the Sickness Questionnaire (SicknessQ). Journal of Health Psychology. 2016 Jul 24.
Karshikoff B, Lekander M, Soop A, Lindstedt F, Ingvar M Kosek E, Olgart Höglund C, \& Axelsson J. Modality and sex differences in pain sensitivity during human endotoxemia. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. 2015 May;46:35-43
3,439 studies on the registry are indexed under Inflammation; 629 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 52 is close to the median of 50 across 2,437 interventional studies indexed under Inflammation.
Browse Inflammation studies →Karolinska Institutet is the lead sponsor of 1,113 studies on the registry; 267 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
Endotoxin 0.6 ng/kg body weight injection
Biological: Endotoxin
Saline injection
Biological: Placebo
Endotoxin at 0.6 ng/kg of body weight administered intravenously (Escherichia Coli, Lot nr G3E0609, United States Pharmacopeia Rockville, MD)
Also known as: LPS, Lipopolysaccharide
Saline administered intravenously
Pain sensitivity (cutaneous and deep)
Both deep and cutaneous pain at threshold and suprathreshold noxious levels. Heat- and cold (cutaneous) pain sensitivity was assessed for threshold stimuli and intense noxious stimuli, as well as pressure (deep) pain thresholds and CPM (descending pain inhibition).
Time frame: 7.5 hours
Brain function
BOLD activity from MR scans 1. Functional connectivity of the insular cortex during acute inflammation, in relation to symptoms of sickness. 2. Changes in central pain mechanism during acute inflammation, assessed as activity in the insula and areas of the descending pain inhibitory pathways in the brain. 3. Changes in brain function during an emotional task with an interoceptive component during acute inflammation.
Time frame: 7.5 hours
Self-rated health
"How is your health right now?" rated on a 7 point Likert scale at baseline, after 90 minutes and after 4.5 hours. "How do you rate your general state of health?" rated on a 5-point Likert scale at 90 minutes post-injection
Time frame: 4.5 hours
Facial appearence
Photos were taken under standardised conditions before and after injection
Time frame: 2 h
No study locations are listed for this record.
Plan to share: Undecided
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
This study is completed, as verified in May 2018. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.
Karolinska Institutet