Exploring Oxytocin Peptide Studies

Studies suggest that an essential protein hormone, Oxytocin, may be involved in sexual reproduction, labor, the establishment of a secure attachment between mother and offspring during breastfeeding, and the recovery from injury.

New data suggests that it may improve brain function, lessen the likelihood of cardiovascular disease, and perhaps counteract diabetes.

Oxytocin Peptide Overview

Research indicates that Oxytocin may have two distinct natural purposes; however, it is more accurately seen as a single protein.

The hypothalamus secretes this neuropeptide, which is believed to have crucial functions in attachment, sperm quality, and birth.

Another common hormone in the bloodstream, Oxytocin, has been hypothesized to influence labor, breastfeeding, and attachment to a new newborn.

The placenta secretes it throughout gestation. To aid in mating behavior and pair bonding, the testes of male research models release a trace quantity of Oxytocin. Studies conducted on Oxytocin suggest it may be involved in:

• Milk production and nursing
• Contracting the cervix during delivery
• Mitigating hypertension
• Influencing the way neurons work
• Bonding
• Anxiety
• Healing of wounds

Oxytocin: What Is It?

A small peptide with just nine amino acids, Oxytocin is secreted by the posterior pituitary after being manufactured in the hypothalamus.

The testes, ovaries, and placenta all contribute to its production. The active hormone Oxytocin is produced by cleaving a far bigger precursor molecule, as with most peptide hormones.

Surprisingly, Oxytocin may also be produced by the pancreas, adrenal glands, and thymus. Despite Oxytocin’s long-held reputation as a neurohypophysial hormone, this view is being cast into doubt as the peptide’s potential actions expand to include more and more tissues.

Oxytocin and Wounds

Research indicates that Oxytocin may control inflammation by acting on certain inflammatory cytokines. An intriguing study that examined the wound-healing rates of 37 pairs of research models suggested that social contact, which raised Oxytocin levels, may have accelerated the pace of wound-healing.

It has been hypothesized that wounds may heal more quickly when Oxytocin levels are high. According to similar studies, antagonism in interactions, especially between pairs, may slow wound healing rates by up to 40%.

At the location of the wound, these research model pairs also appeared to have reduced levels of IL-6, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and IL-1beta.

Oxytocin Peptide and the Heart

Researchers hypothesized that Oxytocin may protect the cardiovascular system and heart due to its potential for inflammatory cytokines and wound healing rates.

Research has indicated that this peptide may potentially alleviate anxiety/stress hormone release, lower blood pressure, enhance glucose tolerance, and reduce fat mass.

Investigations purport that Oxytocin might be a useful adjunct to current research in cardiovascular disease (CVD) since all of these are significant components of CVD.

Additionally, there is strong speculation that atherosclerosis may occur in certain contexts when the Oxytocin receptor is downregulated.

By increasing Oxytocin levels, cases of lower receptor density have been theorized to maintain cardiovascular integrity and, in rare instances, reverse atherosclerosis.

Findings imply that Oxytocin may potentially prevent the death of cardiomyocytes (cells that make up the heart muscle) when given to research models during ischemia (like a heart attack).

Scientists speculate that chronic Oxytocin presentation may help prevent dilated cardiomyopathy and precondition cardiac stem cells from helping with tissue regeneration.

This may happen through direct differentiation, secretion of protective and cardiomyogenic factors, or fusing with injured cardiomyocytes, as suggested by Jankoski et al.

Further studies in mice have ascertained that Oxytocin presentation may mitigate diabetic cardiac damage. Oxytocin appeared to have aided these mice by lowering fasting glucose levels by 23% and reducing body fat growth by 19%.

Lower levels of insulin resistance are the mechanism by which it is believed to achieve these results. The results report that Oxytocin seemed to reduce mice’s cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, fibrosis, and death, leading to less systolic and diastolic dysfunction than controls.

Although Oxytocin may not directly affect cardiac tissue, it has been hypothesized to protect many tissues from ischemia damage.

Researchers have speculated that Oxytocin may prevent ischemia-reperfusion damage in rats with priapism (a condition characterized by a prolonged erection) by lowering nitric oxide levels.

Oxytocin Peptide and Diabetes

Research indicates that with its potential to enhance insulin sensitivity, Oxytocin may be useful in the context of diabetes research via potentially increasing glucose absorption by skeletal muscle.

Mice studies have suggested that Oxytocin may reduce total fat mass and dyslipidemia rates and significantly affect lipid consumption.

Obesity may develop without Oxytocin, even when caloric intake and physical activity are constant, indicating that this peptide may be essential for maintaining a steady energy balance.

Investigations purport that Oxytocin presentation does not seem to impact glucose, insulin, or body composition in lean mice, according to research in both obese and lean animals.

It seems that the peptide does not affect these parameters in lean mice, indicating that while it may help in the context of certain types of diabetes, it may not be appropriate somewhere else.

Oxytocin seems to work differently in the presence of diabetes than when the condition is absent. Research models of diabetes, exposed to Oxytocin for eight weeks, appeared to have a decrease in insulin and glucose levels as well as a reduction of weight.

Barengolts suggests a negative correlation may exist between circulating Oxytocin, glycosylated hemoglobin A1C, insulin resistance, and normoglycemic research models and that Oxytocin levels seem lower in test subjects with type 2 diabetes.

Oxytocin Peptide and Anxiety

Multiple lines of research point to a possible connection between Oxytocin and mood dysregulation, including anxiety and depression.

For example, there is speculation that some genetic variations in the Oxytocin receptor gene might cause bonding issues and social anxiety.

Possible compensatory mechanism for pathologically lowered levels of Oxytocin was suggested by epigenetic alterations in the Oxytocin receptor reported in one study examining its impact in social anxiety. As suggested by this, a possible consequence of reduced Oxytocin signaling may be social anxiety.

Please note that none of the substances mentioned in this article have been approved for human consumption and should not be acquired or utilized by unlicensed individuals outside of contained research settings such as laboratories.

References

[i] J.-P. Gouin et al., “Marital behavior, oxytocin, vasopressin, and wound healing,” Psychoneuroendocrinology, vol. 35, no. 7, pp. 1082–1090, Aug. 2010.

[ii] J. K. Kiecolt-Glaser et al., “Hostile marital interactions, proinflammatory cytokine production, and wound healing,” Arch. Gen. Psychiatry, vol. 62, no. 12, pp. 1377–1384, Dec. 2005.

[iii] A. B. Reiss, D. S. Glass, E. Lam, A. D. Glass, J. De Leon, and L. J. Kasselman, “Oxytocin: Potential to mitigate cardiovascular risk,” Peptides, vol. 117, p. 170089, Jul. 2019

[iv] P. Wang et al., “Therapeutic Potential of Oxytocin in Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease: Mechanisms and Signaling Pathways,” Front. Neurosci., vol. 13, p. 454, 2019.

[v] M. Jankowski, T. L. Broderick, and J. Gutkowska, “Oxytocin and cardioprotection in diabetes and obesity,” BMC Endocr. Disord., vol. 16, no. 1, p. 34, Jun. 2016

[vi] E. Plante et al., “Oxytocin treatment prevents the cardiomyopathy observed in obese diabetic male db/db mice,” Endocrinology, vol. 156, no. 4, pp. 1416–1428, Apr. 2015

[vii] E. Kolukcu et al., “The effects of oxytocin on penile tissues in experimental priapism model in rats,” Int. Urol. Nephrol., vol. 51, no. 2, pp. 231–238, Feb. 2019

[viii] C. Ding, M. K.-S. Leow, and F. Magkos, “Oxytocin in metabolic homeostasis: implications for obesity and diabetes management,” Obes. Rev. Off. J. Int. Assoc. Study Obes., vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 22–40, 2019

[ix] J. Altirriba et al., “Divergent effects of oxytocin treatment of obese diabetic mice on adiposity and diabetes,” Endocrinology, vol. 155, no. 11, pp. 4189–4201, Nov. 2014.

[x] E. Barengolts, “OXYTOCIN – AN EMERGING TREATMENT FOR OBESITY AND DYSGLYCEMIA: REVIEW OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS AND COHORT STUDIES,” Endocr. Pract. Off. J. Am. Coll. Endocrinol. Am. Assoc. Clin. Endocrinol., vol. 22, no. 7, pp. 885–894, Jul. 2019