BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to determine the lowest effective bolus dose of oxytocin to produce adequate uterine tone (UT) during elective Caesarean delivery (CD). METHODS Seventy-five pregnant patients undergoing elective CD under spinal anaesthesia were randomized to receive oxytocin (0.5, 1, 3, 5 units) or placebo. UT was assessed by a blinded obstetrician as either adequate or in...

Oxytocin has a modulatory role in natural and drug reward processes. While the role of oxytocin in pair bonding and reproduction has been extensively studied, sex differences in conditioned and unconditioned behavioral responses to oxytocin treatment have not been fully characterized. Here, we determined whether male and female rats would show similar dose response curves in response to acute o...

Cervical stimulation induces two daily rhythmic prolactin surges, nocturnal and diurnal, which persist for several days. We have shown that a bolus injection of oxytocin initiates a similar prolactin rhythm, which persists despite low levels of oxytocin after injection. This suggests that oxytocin may trigger the cervical stimulation-induced rhythmic prolactin surges. To investigate this hypoth...

BACKGROUND Oxytocin is released in response to a meal. Further, mRNA for oxytocin and its receptor have been found throughout the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The aim of this study was therefore to examine whether oxytocin, or the receptor antagonist atosiban, influence the gastric emptying. METHODS Ten healthy volunteers (five men) were examined regarding gastric emptying at three different ...

Oxytocin plays an important role in monogamous pairbonded female voles, but not in polygamous voles. Here we examined a socially monogamous cooperatively breeding primate where both sexes share in parental care and territory defense for within species variation in behavior and female and male oxytocin levels in 14 pairs of cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus). In order to obtain a stable chro...

Abstract Introduction: Occurrence of cardiac arrhythmias and myocardial infarction are two main deleterious events that are caused by ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury in the heart. Cardiac preconditioning represents the most potent method of rescuing heart tissue from undergoing irreversible ischemic damage. The aim of the present study was to evaluate oxytocin (OT) cardioprotective effect...

Increasing evidence has shown adverse effects of loneliness on cardiometabolic health. Oxytocin been linked with social cognition and behaviour, however, recently also energy metabolism obesity suggesting that oxytocin may underlie common mechanisms bridging mental somatic traits. To clarify whether the system contributes to links between health loneliness, we calculated genetic contribution si...

“Early in 1957 my wife, our five-year old daughter, and I arrived as refugees in New York City. I came to join du Vigneaud in his studies (recognized a year earlier by the Nobel Prize) on the chemistry of the peptide hormones oxytocin and vasopressin. Our newly acquired freedom, together with the absence of material possessions such as home, car, or television set, allowed me to concentrate on ...

We addressed the question how long salivary oxytocin levels remain elevated after intranasal administration, and whether it makes a difference when 16 or 24 IU of oxytocin administration is used. Oxytocin levels were measured in saliva samples collected from 46 female participants right before intranasal administration (at 9:30 a.m.) of 16 IU (n = 18) or 24 IU (n = 10) of oxytocin, or a placebo...