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RecruitingAccepts healthy volunteersPhase 2

Role of Sympathetic Overactivity and Angiotensin II in PTSD and CV

Emory University · with American Heart Association · NCT02560805

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Opens the official ClinicalTrials.gov record, with the study team’s contacts. Bored Studies doesn’t enroll anyone.

Key facts

Compensation
Not posted. Ask the study team before screening.
Who can join
Ages 18–65 · All sexes
Healthy volunteers
Accepted
Study type
Interventional · Phase 2
Target enrollment
134
US sites recruiting
1
Study start
October 2015
Record last updated
May 18, 2026

Status re-checked against ClinicalTrials.gov within the last 12 hours.

What the study is about

The purpose of this study is to find out why patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have an increased risk for heart disease and high blood pressure later in life. A second purpose is to find out what causes PTSD patients to have high adrenaline levels during stress. This study will also test if a medicine called losartan improves high adrenaline levels in patients with PTSD and if a certain gene that has to do with high blood pressure might be associated with high adrenaline levels.

Being studied: Microneurography; Combat virtual reality video clip; Handgrip Exercise; Cold Pressor Test (CPT); Sodium Nitroprusside (SNP); Phenylephrine; Losartan; Atenolol; Transcutaneous Vagal Nerve Stimulation (tVNS); Sham Transcutaneous Vagal Nerve Stimulation (tVNS)

Conditions: Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic

Eligibility criteria

Copied from the official record. The study team makes the final decision at screening.

Show full criteria

Inclusion Criteria

  • veterans ages 18-65 years old with PTSD and without PTSD (controls) matched for age, gender, and race.

Exclusion Criteria

  • pregnancy
  • hypertension
  • diabetes
  • heart or vascular disease
  • illicit drug use
  • excessive alcohol use (>2 drinks per day)
  • hyperlipidemia
  • autonomic dysfunction
  • current treatment with clonidine, beta blockers, angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, or angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs)
  • treatment with monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors within the last 14 days
  • any serious systemic disease
  • chronic kidney disease defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) \< 60 cc/min
  • hyperkalemia (serum potassium > 5 meq/dL)
  • systolic blood pressure \< 100 mm Hg
  • diastolic blood pressure \< 60 mm Hg
  • heart rate \< 50 beats/min
  • known hypersensitivity to ARBs or beta blockers

Recruiting US locations

Study contacts (from the official record)

  • Deirdre Dixon · 404-321-6111 · deirdre.dixon@emory.edu
  • Dana DaCosta · 404-727-7762 · drdacos@emory.edu
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Role of Sympathetic Overactivity and Angiotensin II in PTSD and CV (NCT02560805) | Bored Studies