Serotonin and the Upper Airway in Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Status

Completed

Phases

Phase 4

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT00100464

Enrollment

Unknown

Registered

2004-12-31

Start date

2000-11-30

Completion date

2003-12-31

Last updated

2013-09-17

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Keywords

Serotonin, Sleep Apnea Syndrome, Pharyngeal Muscles

Brief summary

The purpose of this study is to determine if a certain medication, alone or combined with another medication, will increase muscle activity in the upper airway in people who do and people who do not have sleep apnea. The medications being studied are paroxetine, a commonly used antidepressant, and 5 hydroxy-tryptophan (5HTP), which also can be used as a dietary supplement without a prescription. Because the effects of paroxetine in previous studies were not very large, we will also study it combined with 5HTP to see if the effect on the upper airway muscles is greater.

Interventions

DRUGParoxetine

DRUG5HTP

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

CROSSOVER

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

16 Years to 60 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

Group A: 20 Adult patients with mild to severe sleep apnea. If patients are being treated with nasal CPAP, they will continue treatment except on study nights. Group B: 20 normal adult non-snoring subjects.

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026