Article date: October 2007
By: John L. Sievenpiper, Adish Ezatagha, Anamaria Dascalu, Vladimir Vuksan, in Volume 64, Issue 4, pages 546-549
What is already known about this subject
Aims
Placebo effects in clinical trials remain uncertain. To investigate a placebo effect on acute postprandial plasma glucose, we conducted a follow‐up investigation on a previous study.
Methods
The effect of placebo (9 g encapsulated cornstarch +500 ml water, taken at −40 min) on the plasma glucose response to a 75‐g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was assessed in a previous study in 12 healthy subjects (gender, five male, seven female; age 27 ± 6 years; body mass index 24 ± 3.4 kg m−2). This was compared with the effect of a water control (500 ml water taken alone at −40 min) on the same outcome in the same subjects in a follow‐up study.
Results
Cornstarch placebo decreased plasma glucose area under the curve during the 75‐g OGTT by 28% [Δ (95% confidence interval) −63.3 min mmol−1 l−1 (−218.33, 91.66), P < 0.02] compared with the water control (P < 0.05).
Conclusions
Postprandial plasma glucose outcomes may be vulnerable to placebo effects.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.2007.02929.x
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