The Effects of Social Support and Oxytocin Administration on Physiological Stress Reactivity in Essential Hypertension
Status:
Terminated
Trial end date:
2016-06-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
To test a psychopharmacological intervention strategy which may provide new insights into the
mechanisms underlying the physiological hyperreactivity to stress observed in hypertension,
we plan to test the effects of the neuropeptide oxytocin and social support on the
neurobiological and psychological responsiveness to social stress. The study population for
this project consists of 80 hypertensive and 80 normotensive non-smoking medication-free men.
We expect exogenous oxytocin administration to enable hypertensives to effectively take
advantage of the provided social support. Thereby, oxytocin may enhance the effect of social
support on reducing the previously observed physiological hyperreactivity to stress in
essential hypertensives.