Placebo Publications August 2021

Today we present 28 new placebo and nocebo research papers, comments and abstracts identified during August 2021. As usual, they are based on new PUBMED publication using the search terms „placebo“ and „nocebo“ and are hand-selected from more than 1048 new publications during the preceding month. Previously published monthly updates can be found in our archive. Todays selection as well as all previously identified papers will also go into our placebo research library that currently contains nearly 5,000 relevant papers. If you would like to get access to the full database, please register for our newsletter and provide us with your email address and affiliation.

Bagaric, B., Jokic-Begic, N., & Sangster Jokic, C. (2021).
The Nocebo Effect: A Review of Contemporary Experimental Research. Int J Behav Med. doi:10.1007/s12529-021-10016-y
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34405336

Bajcar, E. A., Wiercioch-Kuzianik, K., Braczyk, J., Farley, D., Bieniek, H., & Babel, P. (2021).
When one suffers less, all suffer less: Individual pain ratings are more effective than group ratings in producing placebo hypoalgesia. Eur J Pain. doi:10.1002/ejp.1855
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34399009

Barberio, B., Savarino, E. V., Black, C. J., & Ford, A. C. (2021).
Placebo Response Rates in Trials of Licensed Drugs for Irritable Bowel Syndrome With Constipation or Diarrhea: Meta-analysis. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. doi:10.1016/j.cgh.2021.08.025
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34425274

Benedetti, F., Amanzio, M., Giovannelli, F., Craigs-Brackhahn, K., & Shaibani, A. (2021).
Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Activity in Adverse Events Reporting after Placebo Administration. Clin Pharmacol Ther. doi:10.1002/cpt.2388 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34365636

Benedetti, F., Frisaldi, E., & Shaibani, A. (2021).
Thirty Years of Neuroscientific Investigation of Placebo and Nocebo: The Interesting, the Good, and the Bad. Annu Rev Pharmacol Toxicol. doi:10.1146/annurev-pharmtox-052120-104536
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34460317

Bonati, M. (2021).
Restrictions on the use of placebo in new COVID-19 vaccine trials. Eur J Clin Pharmacol. doi:10.1007/s00228-021-03203-z
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34462794

Bostrom, J. A., Beckman, J. A., & Berger, J. S. (2021).
Summoning STRENGTH to Question the Placebo in REDUCE-IT. Circulation, 144(6), 407-409. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.121.054539
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34370544

Brody, D. L. (2021).
Placebo Benefits for Disruptive Aspects of Mood Dysregulation after Traumatic Brain Injury. J Neurotrauma, 38(16), 2193. doi:10.1089/neu.2021.29114.editorial
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34375134

Castells, X., Saez, M., Barcheni, M., Cunill, R., Serrano, D., Lopez, B., & van Lissa, C. (2021).
Placebo response and its predictors in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: a meta-analysis and comparison of meta-regression and MetaForest. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. doi:10.1093/ijnp/pyab054
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34355753

Esposito, M., Cocimano, G., Ministrieri, F., Rosi, G. L., Nunno, N. D., Messina, G., Sessa, F., & Salerno, M. (2021).
Smart drugs and neuroenhancement: what do we know? Front Biosci (Landmark Ed), 26(8), 347-359. doi:10.52586/4948
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34455764

Gillving, M., Demant, D., Holbech, J. V., Vase, L., Bach, F. W., Jensen, T. S., Finnerup, N.B., & Sindrup, S. H. (2021).
Impact of variability in baseline pain on the placebo response in randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover trials in peripheral neuropathic pain. Pain. doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002374
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34407033

Gohler, A. C., Haas, J. W., Sperl, M. F. J., Hermann, C., & Winkler, A. (2021).
Placebo nasal spray protects female participants from experimentally induced sadness and concomitant changes in autonomic arousal. J Affect Disord, 295, 131-138. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2021.07.037
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34438321

Harris, I. (2021).
When the placebo effect is not an effect. Acta Orthop, 1-2. doi:10.1080/17453674.2021.1969155
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34431744

Huang, X., Oshima, T., Tomita, T., Fukui, H., & Miwa, H. (2021).
Meta-Analysis: Placebo Response and Its Determinants in Functional Dyspepsia. Am J Gastroenterol. doi:10.14309/ajg.0000000000001397
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34404084

Jorgensen, C. K., Juul, S., Siddiqui, F., Barbateskovic, M., Munkholm, K., Hengartner, M. P., Kirsch, I., Gluud, C., & Jakobsen, J. C. (2021).
Tricyclic antidepressants versus ‘active placebo’, placebo or no intervention for adults with major depressive disorder: a protocol for a systematic review with meta-analysis and Trial Sequential Analysis. Syst Rev, 10(1), 227. doi:10.1186/s13643-021-01789-0
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34389045

Kanen, J. W., Apergis-Schoute, A. M., Yellowlees, R., Arntz, F. E., van der Flier, F. E., Price, A., Cardinal, R. N., Christmas, D. M., Clark, L., Sahakian, B. J., Crockett, M. J., & Robbins, T. W. (2021).
Serotonin depletion impairs both Pavlovian and instrumental reversal learning in healthy humans. Mol Psychiatry. doi:10.1038/s41380-021-01240-9
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34429517

Locher, C., Buergler, S., Frey Nascimento, A., Kost, L., Blease, C., & Gaab, J. (2021).
Lay perspectives of the open-label placebo rationale: a qualitative study of participants in an experimental trial. BMJ Open, 11(8), e053346. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2021-053346
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34408060

Miller, C. T., Owen, P. J., Than, C. A., Ball, J., Sadler, K., Piedimonte, A., Benedetti, F., & Belavy, D. L. (2021).
Attempting to Separate Placebo Effects from Exercise in Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Sports Med. doi:10.1007/s40279-021-01526-6
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34453277

Raj, D., Pekacka-Falkowska, K., Wlodarczyk, M., & Weglorz, J. (2021).
The real Theriac – panacea, poisonous drug or quackery? J Ethnopharmacol, 281, 114535. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2021.114535
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34416297

Reach, G., Benarbia, L., Bruckert, E., Kevorkian, J. P., Farnier, M., Mourad, J. J., & Vaisse, B. C. (2021).
Intentionality in adherence to long-term therapies. Results from an online survey of 3,001 patients with cardio-metabolic pathologies in France. Patient Prefer Adherence, 15, 1739-1753. doi:10.2147/PPA.S318116
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34408407

Scherrer, B., Guiraud, J., Addolorato, G., Aubin, H. J., de Bejczy, A., Benyamina, A., van den Brink, W., Caputo, F., Dematteis, M., Goudriaan, A. E., Gual, A., Kiefer, F., Leggio, L., Lesch, O. M., Maremmani, I., Nutt, D. J., Paille, F., Perney, P., Poulnais, R., Raffaillac, Q., Rehm, J., Rolland, B., Simon, N., Soderpalm, B., Sommer, W. H., Walter, H.,& Spanagel, R. (2021).
Baseline severity and the prediction of placebo response in clinical trials for alcohol dependence: A meta-regression analysis to develop an enrichment strategy. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. doi:10.1111/acer.14670
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34418121

Siguan, A. A. (2021).
Conspiracies and the nocebo effect during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Public Health. doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdab327
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34426841

Stanulovic, V., Hodolic, M., Mitsikostas, D. D., & Papadopoulos, D. (2021).
Drug tolerability: How much ambiguity can be tolerated? A systematic review of the assessment of tolerability in clinical studies. Br J Clin Pharmacol. doi:10.1111/bcp.15016
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34342031

Stuhlreyer, J., & Klinger, R. (2021).
[Treatment expectations for postoperative pain]. Schmerz. doi:10.1007/s00482-021-00575-0
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34459995

Tfelt-Hansen, P., Jorgensen, K., & Diener, H. C. (2021).
Doubtful use of placebo following placebo in recent controlled trials of lasmiditan and ubrogepant for the treatment of migraine attacks. Cephalalgia, 3331024211029939. doi:10.1177/03331024211029939
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34407653

Thomson, O. P., & Rossettini, G. (2021).
Don’t focus on the finger, look at the moon – The importance of contextual factors for clinical practice and research. International Journal of Osteopathic Medicine, 40, 1-3. doi:10.1016/j.ijosm.2021.06.001
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijosm.2021.06.001

Vachon-Presseau, E., Abdullah, T. B., Berger, S. E., Huang, L., Griffith, J. W., Schnitzer, T. J., & Apkarian, A. V. (2021).
Validating a biosignature predicting placebo pill response in chronic pain in the settings of a randomized controlled trial. Pain. doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002450
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34433773

von Wernsdorff, M., Loef, M., Tuschen-Caffier, B., & Schmidt, S. (2021).
Author Correction: Effects of open-label placebos in clinical trials: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sci Rep, 11(1), 17436. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-96604-0
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34433888

Placebo in the media

Aé, J. (2021).
Die unheimliche Macht der negativen Erwartung. Welt am Sonntag
https://www.welt.de/wissenschaft/plus233566122/Nocebo-Effekt-Die-Kraft-der-Befuerchtung.html

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