Validate a Pharmacodynamic Model of Oxytocin for Peripheral Analgesic Effects

Summary

Participation Requirements

Description

This is an unblinded Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) study in which oxytocin is infused in increasing steps to different levels up and down in a set manner and the PD effect of pain relief from each level of oxytocin determined. All study participants will receive the same treatment and will...

This is an unblinded Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) study in which oxytocin is infused in increasing steps to different levels up and down in a set manner and the PD effect of pain relief from each level of oxytocin determined. All study participants will receive the same treatment and will not be blinded to the experimental plan, although particpants will not be informed when oxytocin levels are changing. In this study healthy people or those with knee arthritis so severe that they may need joint replacement are recruited for a one day study. Participants will come to the Clinical Research Unit (CRU) and one intravenous catheter (IV) will be inserted in the forearm for oxytocin infusion. In this study, the oxytocin rate will be changed every 15 minutes for 7 times. Oxytocin will be infused by IV route and 5-min heat pain tests obtained, but instead of giving oxytocin at a constant rate, the rate will be adjusted every 15 minutes to aim to get the right amount at the effect site to reduce pain by 10% of the maximum, then 30%, then 70%, then 90%, then back down to 70%, 30%, and 10%. At the end of each of these 7 15-min infusions participants will be tested for pain with heat and the study team will compare how effective the calculations for the effect site are to control the amount of pain relief obtained at each level. This information will be analyzed by another group at Stanford University in the PK/PD Core part of this application. Mathematics will be used to calculate how quickly oxytocin moves from the blood to where it reduces pain (Part 1) and to test the accuracy of these calculations (Part 2).

Tracking Information