The Placebo Effect May Involve Modulating Drug Bioavailability
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2013-02-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
The total effect of a medication is the sum of its drug effect, placebo effect (meaning
response of placebo), and their interaction. Current interpretation of clinical trials (the
gold standard of evidence-based-medicine) assumes no interaction, and the mechanism(s)
underlying such interaction have not been fully explored. One possibility is that the placebo
effect may modulate drug bioavailability. Using caffeine as a model drug, we have recently
shown that the placebo effect of caffeine ingestion prolongs caffeine half life. Due to the
novelty of this finding and its important clinical practice and clinical research
implications, it needs to be confirmed in another set of subjects and extended to additional
drugs.
The results of the study are expected to further our understanding of the mechanism of action
of a widely used medical intervention, i.e., placebo. The results will be important for both
clinical practice and clinical research.