Table 1.
Clinical trials with glucocorticoid-based interventions in fear-related disorders
| Drug | Design | Timing and duration | Memory phase exposed | Outcome | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Treatment of PTSD | |||||
| Cort | DB, PC, CO | Daily for 30 days | Retrieval | ↓ Intrusions while under treatment | Aerni et al. 2004 |
| Cort | DB, PC, CO | Daily for 7 days | Retrieval | No change in intrusions while under treatment | Ludascher et al. 2015 |
| Cort | RCT | Single dose after exposure | Extinction | ↓ PTSD symptoms at 1 week | Suris et al. 2010 |
| Cort | RCT | 20 min before exposure therapy, on 8 days | Retrieval and extinction | ↓ PTSD symptoms at 6 weeks | Yehuda et al. 2015 |
| Prevention of PTSD | |||||
| Cort | RCT | Starting < 12 h after trauma, for 10 days | Consolidation and retrieval | ↓ PTSD symptoms at 3 months | Delahanty et al. 2013 |
| Cort | RCT | Starting < 6 h after trauma, for 6 days | Consolidation and retrieval | ↓ PTSD incidence at 31 months | Schelling et al. 2001 |
| Cort | RCT | Starting < 6 h after trauma, for 4 days | Consolidation and retrieval | ↓ Stress scores at 6 months | Schelling et al. 2004 |
| Cort | RCT | Starting < 6 h after trauma, for 4 days | Consolidation and retrieval | ↓ Stress scores at 6 months | Weis et al. 2006 |
| Cort | RCT | Single dose < 6 h after trauma | Consolidation | ↓ PTSD incidence at 3 months | Zohar et al. 2011 |
| Dex | RCT | Single intraoperative dose | Consolidation | No difference in PTSD incidence at 18 months | Kok et al. 2016 |
| Treatment of social phobia | |||||
| Cort | RCT | Single dose 1 h before phobic stimulus | Retrieval | ↓ Fear while under treatment | Soravia et al. 2006 |
| Treatment of spider phobia | |||||
| Cort | RCT | 1 h before phobic stimulus, on 4 days | Retrieval and extinction | ↓ Fear while under treatment | Soravia et al. 2006 |
| Cort | RCT | 1 h before exposure therapy, on 2 days | Retrieval and extinction | ↓ Fear at 1 month | Soravia et al. 2014 |
| Treatment of phobia of heights | |||||
| Cort | RCT | 1 h before exposure therapy, on 3 days | Retrieval and extinction | ↓ Fear at 1 month | de Quervain et al. 2011 |
Only randomized controlled trials (RCT) or double-blind (DB), placebo-controlled (PC), cross-over (CO) trials are included. Cort: Cortisol; Dex: Dexamethasone. Adapted from (de Quervain et al. 2017)