Marital behavior, oxytocin, vasopressin, and wound healing

Abstract

SummaryAnimal studies have implicated oxytocin and vasopressin in social bonding, physiological stress responses, and wound healing. In humans, endogenous oxytocin and vasopressin levels covary with perceptions of relationship quality, marital behaviors, and physiological stress responses. To investigate relationships among marital behavior, oxytocin, vasopressin, and wound healing, and to determine the characteristics of individuals with the highest neuropeptide levels, 37 couples were admitted for a 24-hour visit in a hospital research unit. After small blister wounds were created on their forearm, couples participated in a structured social support interaction task. Blister sites were monitored daily following discharge to assess wound repair speed. Blood samples were collected for oxytocin, vasopressin, and cytokine analyses. Higher oxytocin levels were associated with more positive communication behaviors during the structured interaction task. Furthermore, individuals in the upper oxytocin quartile healed blister wounds faster than participants in lower oxytocin quartiles. Higher vasopressin levels were related to fewer negative communication behaviors and greater tumor necrosis factor-α production. Moreover, women in the upper vasopressin quartile healed the experimental wounds faster than the remainder of the sample. These data confirm and extend prior evidence implicating oxytocin and vasopressin in couples' positive and negative communication behaviors, and also provide further evidence of their role in an important health outcome, wound healing.

Helping hands, healthy body? Oxytocin receptor gene and prosocial behavior interact to buffer the association between stress and physical health

“…Moreover, while we examined OXTR genotypes as a way of making inferences about the effects of oxytocin, it is possible that, over the course of a life span, individual differences in OXTR genotype may also shape aspects of people's personalities and social environments, potentially confounding the association between OXTR and health. Ideally, future work could examine proximal as well as distal indicators of oxytocin function and health, not all of which share this limitation, such as peripheral oxytocin assessment (e.g., Gouin et al, 2010). Finally, it was beyond the scope of the present research to examine the physiological mechanisms (e.g., modulated HPA axis and cardiovascular stress reactivity) by which charitable behavior and oxytocin might buffer the impact of stressful events (Chen et al, 2011;Norman et al, 2012;Rodrigues et al, 2009).…”

“…Oxytocin also has stress-buffering effects, moderating neural and behavioral responses to negative stimuli (Campbell 2010;Kirsch et al, 2005;Poulin et al, 2012) as well as modulating hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and cardiovascular stress reactivity (Chen et al, 2011;Norman et al, 2012;Rodrigues et al, 2009). Higher blood levels of oxytocin have even been found to predict faster healing time of lab-induced wounds (Gouin et al, 2010). In humans, oxytocin promotes positive interactions with close others beyond offspring (Ditzen et al, 2008;Feldman, 2012) and facilitates prosociality more generally, including charitable giving, empathy, and compassion (e.g., Kogan et al, 2011;Poulin et al, 2012; for a review, see Campbell, 2010).…”

Physical Health Outcomes of Conjugal Bereavement: A Psychoneuroendocrine Model of Resilience

“…Psychosocial factors influence the healing of cutaneous wounds in animals as well as humans [13]. Exposure to everyday stressors [14] and/or chronic stressors tends to delay healing whereas social support has been shown to promote healing [15]. Crucially, as pointed out by Broadbent and Koschwanez [16], wound healing is itself a health outcome, and thus provides more direct and valid information than other biomarkers of health.…”

Emotions, mucosal immunity and respiratory disease in shelter cats

“…Oxytocin receptors in the thymus play a primary role in the maturation and differentiation of T-lymphocytes [91,92]. Naturally or artificially elevated levels of oxytocin have been associated with increased wound healing in humans and mice [93,94]. The neuropeptide glutamate has been implicated in anxiety and in the activation or suppression of various T-cell functions [95].…”

“…In humans, the simple process of awakening and getting out of bed can increase cortisol [93]. The anticipation of food can increase cortisol with level remaining high during feeding [94].…”