Acute changes in oxytocin predict behavioral responses to foundation training in horses

Niittynen, Taru; Riihonen, Veera; Moscovice, Liza R.; Koski, Sonja E.

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2022.105707

Cited by 9 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…At the same time, salivary oxytocin analyzed with ELISA kits if internally validated, sampled, and analyzed repeatedly has been a basis for reliable and trustworthy studies as a source of information published in reputable journals ( Hew-Butler et al, 2008b ; Coiro et al, 2008 ; Keenan Gerred and Kapoor, 2023 ; Leng and Ludwig, 2008 ; Mabrouk and Kennedy, 2012 ). Keeping up with the test manufacturer’s instructions remains a crucial part of measurements and testing and may prevent possible inaccuracies in measurement procedures ( Hew-Butler et al, 2008a ; Asano et al, 2018 ; Gan et al, 2023 ; Niittynen et al, 2022 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, oxytocin predicts behavioral responses to foundation training in horses as an acute stress scenario, where cortisol is continually reduced for 9 months likely due to oxytocin. Training in horses can lead to measurable changes in oxytocin levels, which are associated with different behavioral responses ( Niittynen et al, 2022 ). This suggests that in sports contexts, acute stress situations might similarly influence oxytocin levels, helping with acclimatization periods to training.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Systematic review: pain, cognition, and cardioprotection—unpacking oxytocin’s contributions in a sport context

Szabó,

Bonet,

Hetényi

et al. 2024

Front. Physiol.

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IntroductionThis systematic review investigates the interplay between oxytocin and exercise; in terms of analgesic, anti-inflammatory, pro-regenerative, and cardioprotective effects. Furthermore, by analyzing measurement methods, we aim to improve measurement validity and reliability.MethodsUtilizing PRISMA, GRADE, and MECIR protocols, we examined five databases with a modified SPIDER search. Including studies on healthy participants, published within the last 20 years, based on keywords “oxytocin,” “exercise” and “measurement,” 690 studies were retrieved initially (455 unique records). After excluding studies of clinically identifiable diseases, and unpublished and reproduction-focused studies, 175 studies qualified for the narrative cross-thematic and structural analysis.ResultsThe analysis resulted in five categories showing the reciprocal impact of oxytocin and exercise: Exercise (50), Physiology (63), Environment (27), Social Context (65), and Stress (49). Exercise-induced oxytocin could promote tissue regeneration, with 32 studies showing its analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects, while 14 studies discussed memory and cognition. Furthermore, empathy-associated OXTR rs53576 polymorphism might influence team sports performance. Since dietary habits and substance abuse can impact oxytocin secretion too, combining self-report tests and repeated salivary measurements may help achieve precision.DiscussionOxytocin’s effect on fear extinction and social cognition might generate strategies for mental training, and technical, and tactical development in sports. Exercise-induced oxytocin can affect the amount of stress experienced by athletes, and their response to it. However, oxytocin levels could depend on the type of sport in means of contact level, exercise intensity, and duration. The influence of oxytocin on athletes’ performance and recovery could have been exploited due to its short half-life. Examining oxytocin’s complex interactions with exercise paves the way for future research and application in sports science, psychology, and medical disciplines.Systematic Review Registration:https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=512184, identifier CRD42024512184

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Systematic review: pain, cognition, and cardioprotection—unpacking oxytocin’s contributions in a sport context

Szabó,

Bonet,

Hetényi

et al. 2024

Front. Physiol.

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“…Moreover, we were able to detect significant differences in sOXT related to the birth process with similarly small sample sizes in both pigs and horses. Interestingly, while there is some evidence for increases in sOXT in farm animals related to positive interactions with humans (pigs: Lürzel et al, 2020 ; horses: Niittynen et al, 2022 ), no studies to date have reported similar results related to positive social interactions with conspecifics in farm animals. Further research is thus needed to determine whether sOXT can be used as an indicator of valued social partners and social interactions in farm animals.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Increases in salivary oxytocin have been related to parturition in sows ( López-Arjona et al, 2020a ) and sexual behavior in boars ( López-Arjona et al, 2020b ). There is also some evidence that changes in salivary oxytocin may reflect affiliative social interactions with humans (e.g., farm animals: Lürzel et al, 2020 ; dogs: Ogi et al, 2020 ; horses; Niittynen et al, 2022 ) and mother-offspring interactions (dogs: MacLean et al, 2018 ). However, there are currently no widely-accepted guidelines for sample collection, processing and measurement of salivary oxytocin, leading to a great degree of variation in methods and results across labs, even when measuring salivary oxytocin in the same species (e.g., pig saliva: López-Arjona et al, 2020a ; Lürzel et al, 2020 ; Moscovice et al, 2022 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in salivary oxytocin in response to biologically-relevant events in farm animals: method optimization and usefulness as a biomarker

Moscovice,

Sobczak,

Niittynen

et al. 2024

Front. Physiol.

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Although best known for its established role in mediating parturition and lactation, the highly-conserved neuropeptide hormone oxytocin also mediates a range of social and stress-buffering processes across mammalian species. Measurements of peripheral oxytocin in plasma have long been considered the gold standard, but there is increasing interest in developing methods to detect oxytocin non-invasively in saliva. Here we present an analytical and biological validation of a novel method to measure salivary oxytocin (sOXT) in an under-studied research group: farm animals. Given their similarities with humans in physiology and brain, methods that can identify valued social contexts and social relationships for farm animals and investigate their function have implications for clinical research as well as for animal welfare science. However, current methods to measure sOXT vary greatly in terms of sample collection, pre-measurement processing and measurement and more rigorous standardization and validation of methods is critical to determine the utility of sOXT as a biomarker of salient social events and related emotions. We optimized a method for extracting sOXT in pigs and horses and measured sOXT in extracted samples using a commercially available enzyme-immunoassay. Extracted samples were within acceptable ranges for precision (CVs < 15.2%), parallelism and recovery (94%–99%) in both species. Salivary oxytocin increased in samples collected during birth in pigs (Friedmans, p = 0.02) and horses (Wilcoxon, p = 0.02). Salivary oxytocin tended to decrease in sows after a 90-min separation from their piglets (Wilcoxon, p = 0.08). We conclude that sOXT can be reliably linked to physiological events that are mediated by the oxytocinergic system in farm animals, but that more research is needed to determine whether sOXT is a reliable trait marker for more general oxytocin system activation in response to salient social events. Future research should characterize how individual attributes and salivary parameters influence sOXT measurement and should emphasize reporting of analytical and biological validations to increase acceptance of non-invasive methods.

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“…Another factor that may influence the observed variation is age / naivety of the horses studied. Interestingly, a recently published study showed that experienced, non-Thoroughbred, horses had overall lower salivary cortisol levels than naïve horses [ 39 ]. This study found no significant increase in salivary cortisol level in response to training events similar to those described by this research.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation in salivary cortisol responses in yearling Thoroughbred racehorses during their first year of training

et al. 2023

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Thoroughbred horses are bred for competitive racing and undergo intense training regimes. The maintenance of physical soundness and desirable behavioural characteristics are critical to the longevity of a racing career. Horses intended for Flat racing generally enter training as yearlings and undergo introductory training prior to exercise conditioning for racing. This period requires rapid adjustment to a novel environment. As a prey animal, a horse’s ‘fight-or-flight’ response is highly adapted, in which a well-understood component of this response, the hypothalamic-pituitary-axis, is activated in response to a stress stimulus, releasing cortisol. In the Thoroughbred, a significant difference in salivary cortisol concentrations between pre- and post-first time ridden (i.e., first backing) by a jockey have previously been identified. Here, to test the hypothesis that salivary cortisol concentrations may be used to objectively detect individual variations in the acute physiological stress response we investigate individual variation in cortisol response to training milestones. Saliva samples were collected from a cohort of n = 96 yearling Flat racehorses, at the same training yard, across three timepoints at rest: before entering the training yard (n = 66), within three days of entry to the training yard (n = 67) and following 2–3 weeks in the training yard (n = 50). Salivary cortisol concentration was measured using an ELISA. There was no significant difference in cortisol concentration (ANOVA, P > 0.05) across the samples collected at timepoints at rest. Samples were also collected before and 30 minutes after exposure to three novel training events: first time long-reined (n = 6), first time backed by a jockey (n = 34), and first time ridden on the gallops (n = 10). Mean salivary cortisol concentration after all three novel training events was significantly higher than prior to the training event (Paired t-test, P <0.005). The ranges of post-event salivary cortisol concentration across all timepoints suggest individual variation in the measured stress response, reflecting individual differences in stress response to the early training environment. This measure may be used as an objective assessment of the stress response of Thoroughbred racehorses during training.

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Acute changes in oxytocin predict behavioral responses to foundation training in horses

Cited by 9 publications

References 62 publications

Systematic review: pain, cognition, and cardioprotection—unpacking oxytocin’s contributions in a sport context

Systematic review: pain, cognition, and cardioprotection—unpacking oxytocin’s contributions in a sport context

Changes in salivary oxytocin in response to biologically-relevant events in farm animals: method optimization and usefulness as a biomarker

Variation in salivary cortisol responses in yearling Thoroughbred racehorses during their first year of training

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