No effect of 5-day treatment with acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) or the beta-blocker propranolol (Inderal) on free cortisol responses to acute psychosocial stress: a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study.
Neuropsychobiology. 2007; 56(2-3):159-66.N

Abstract

BACKGROUND

The characterization of an individual's hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis stress response is a main research topic in neuropsychobiology since alterations have been causally linked to several disease states. Over the last years, several studies focused on the identification of sources of inter- and intraindividual variability, but there is still a paucity of experimental data on the effect of different pharmaceuticals on cortisol responses to acute psychological stress. Therefore, in this randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study, we investigated the effect of treatment with two popular and clinically used pharmaceuticals on stress-related cortisol responses, namely acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin), a known prostaglandin synthesis inhibitor, and the beta-blocker propranolol (Inderal), a nonselective beta-receptor antagonist.

METHODS

For 5 days, 73 healthy subjects (50 men, 23 women; mean age 47.3 +/- 7.7 years) received either a daily oral dose of 100 mg aspirin, 80 mg propranolol (Inderal), aspirin + propranolol, or placebo. After treatment, subjects were confronted with the Trier Social Stress Test, a widely-used standardized psychosocial stress protocol. Cortisol responses were measured by six saliva samples taken before and after the stress exposure.

RESULTS

Subjects showed a significant cortisol increase after stress (p < 0.0001). The four treatment groups did not differ in their cortisol responses (group effect p > 0.44; interaction p > 0.97). Additionally, controlling for gender, age, smoking status, body mass index, mean arterial blood pressure or pre-stress cortisol levels yielded similar results in the total sample as well as in the male or female subgroups, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Neither short-term treatment with aspirin nor propranolol altered the acute free cortisol response to psychological stress in healthy adults.

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Authors+Show Affiliations

Kudielka BM
Department of Theoretical and Clinical Psychobiology, Graduate School of Psychobiology, University of Trier, Trier, Germany.
Fischer JE
No affiliation info available
Metzenthin P
No affiliation info available
Helfricht S
No affiliation info available
Preckel D
No affiliation info available
von Känel R
No affiliation info available

MeSH

Acute DiseaseAdrenergic beta-AntagonistsAdultAspirinChi-Square DistributionDouble-Blind MethodDrug Therapy, CombinationFemaleHumansHydrocortisoneMaleMiddle AgedPlatelet Aggregation InhibitorsPropranololStress, Psychological

Pub Type(s)

Clinical Trial
Journal Article
Randomized Controlled Trial
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Language

eng

PubMed ID

18259090