Efficacy Profile of Neurexan® in an Experimental Acute Stress Setting - an Explorative Open-Label Study in Healthy Probands

An acute stress reaction is a biopsychological condition arising in response to an event which is individually regarded as emotionally stressful. The onset of a stress response is associated with specific physiological actions in the sympathetic nervous system, both directly and indirectly through the release of adrenaline and to a lesser extent noradrenaline from the medulla of the adrenal glands. These catecholamine hormones facilitate immediate physical reactions by triggering increases in heart rate and breathing, constricting blood vessels. The other major player in the acute stress response is the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.

Although stress has been described as a non-specific psychophysiological response to environmental stimuli, it is possible to discern specific bodily stress responses caused by specific emotional reactions to novel, ambivalent or uncontrollable situations and stimuli. For example, social stress induces elevated cortisol levels, particularly if the stressor is uncontrollable, unpredictable, and constitutes a social-evaluative threat due to the judgment of others such as in the Trier Social Stress Test). Usually, the TSST induces a two-fold increase in saliva cortisol with peaks around 10-20 min. after stress test termination. Also, an average increase in heart rates of around 20 beats per minute (bpm) is observed during the TSST. In addition, emotional states and feelings have been shown to be affected by this stress test, such as marked increases in stress perception,anxiety and emotional insecurity as well as decreases in mood, calmness and feeling awake.

Preliminary results indicate that Neurexan® may improve coping abilities in stressful situations. This study aims to investigate the effect of Neurexan® on subjectively perceived nervousness and tension during an acute stressful situation and to characterize the efficacy profile of Neurexan®.