Conditions: Healthy
Keywords: enrolling adult volunteers
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Enrollment: 50
Healthy volunteers: yes

Brief summary:
In this study, the investigators will examine the effects of hydromorphone, as compared to placebo, upon physiological, subjective, and hormonal responses to a stressful speech task and a non-stressful control task in healthy adults. There is strong evidence in support of the role of endogenous opioids and opiates in mediating social behavior in humans and other animals, and particularly, in social distress. The investigators have recently shown that buprenorphine, a partial mu-opioid agonist, reduces cortisol responses to stress. Here, the investigators propose to further explore the role of the opioid system in mediating stress responses in humans through the use of hydromorphone, a full mu opioid agonist, in addition to acetaminophen. The investigators hypothesize that like acetaminophen, hydromorphone will reduce both physiological and subjective measures of stress.

Detailed description:
Participants be randomly assigned to receive 1000 mg acetaminophen, 2mg hydromorphone, 4mg hydromorphone, or placebo at each of two sessions; one during which they well participate in a stressful speaking task, and one during which they'll participate in a nonstressful control task. Physiological and subjective measures will be taken throughout each session.

Arms:
arm 1: Healthy adult volunteers will receive 2 mg hydromophone. Hydromorphone is a mu-opioid agonist used clinically for pain management. Plasma concentrations of hydromorphone peak approximately 60 min after ingestion. arm 2: Healthy adult volunteers will receive 4 mg hydromophone. Hydromorphone is a mu-opioid agonist used clinically for pain management. Plasma concentrations of hydromorphone peak approximately 60 min after ingestion arm 3: Healthy adult volunteers will receive 1000 mg acetaminophen. Acetaminophen is a COX inhibitor that is used clinically as an analgesic and antipyretic. The dose administered here has been shown to reduce neural and subjective responses to social rejection, and it also peaks about 60 min after ingestion. arm 4: Healthy adult volunteers will recieve Dextrose (placebo).

Interventions: intervention 1: 2 mg hydromorphone intervention 2: 1000 mg Acetaminophen intervention 3: 4 mg hydromorphone intervention 4: dextrose
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: We are administering oral hydromorphone to healthy volunteers to measure its effects on the performance of a verbal task. intervention 2: We are administering sublingual buprenorphine to healthy volunteers to measure its effects on the performance of a verbal task. intervention 3: We are administering oral hydromorphone to healthy volunteers to measure its effects on the performance of a verbal task. intervention 4: We are administering dextrose to healthy volunteers for our placebo group.

Protocol document: