Oxytocin on Cold Water Task Performance and Recovery
Status:
Not yet recruiting
Trial end date:
2023-06-30
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Naval Special Warfare (NSW) operators are exposed to a variety of extreme environmental
conditions and intense physical demands. In addition to breathing high pressure gases at
depth, prolonged cold water immersion and inadequate recovery from sustained physical
exertion negatively impact individual and team performance. Biotechnologies that could
mitigate the effects of cold as well as support physical recovery represent a significant
unmet need for the NSW operational community.
Oxytocin (OT) has a wide range of actions both locally in the brain and peripherally in the
body including skeletal muscle. These peripheral effects can be mediated by classic
ligand-receptor activation given the abundant expression of the oxytocin receptor in
peripheral tissues, along with local expression of OT in peripheral tissues where it is
likely to act in an autocrine manner. Exogenous OT via intranasal administration is FDA
Investigational New Drug (IND)-approved and has been demonstrated as an easy and safe method
to increase circulating OT concentrations that may augment actions on peripheral tissues.
Phase:
Phase 2
Details
Lead Sponsor:
Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition
Collaborators:
Office of Naval Research (ONR) University of Florida