Oxytocin: a therapeutic target for mental disorders

Abstract

We review here that oxytocin (OT) is released into blood and within distinct brain regions in response to stressful and social stimuli, and has been shown to have an antidepressant-like effect in animal studies. Clinical reports suggest OT to be a promising drug for psychiatric diseases such as depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and autism. OT may also have therapeutic potential in the treatment of major depressive disorders, even though OT administered into blood does not readily cross the blood-brain barrier. Physiological functions such as sexual activity and mating induce the release of OT in the central nervous system. A drug for the treatment of sexual dysfunction, sildenafil, enhances the electrically evoked release of OT from the posterior pituitary. This drug has antidepressant-like effects through activation of an OT signaling pathway. These results suggest that sildenafil may have promise as a potential antidepressant.

“Bedside-to-Bench” Behavioral Outcomes in Animal Models of Pain: Beyond the Evaluation of Reflexes

“…A few pharmacological studies have shown that ketamine, desipramine and oxytocin, which are known to ameliorate both depression and pain [233-236], were effective in reversing depressive-like behaviors (forced swimming test) in rats with neuropathy, and that the effects were seen at lower doses that those needed for alleviation in sensory hypersensitivity [218,237,238]. The synthetic CB2-selective agonist GW405833 was shown to be effective reversing both depressive-like behaviors and sensory hypersensitivity [238].…”

“…Although the actions of these drugs might be explained by their known antidepressant or anxiolytic properties, all these drugs are also known to have antineuropathic properties [233-236,253-257]. Pain reduction can also lead to an improvement in the emotional state of animals under a pain condition [204], and taking into account the broadly greater sensitivity of nonreflexive outcomes for the detection of drug-induced analgesia, the ameliorative effects of these drugs might be due, at least in part, to their analgesic actions (even if they do not ameliorate mechanical allodynia in von Frey tests) and not only to their anxiolytic/antidepressant properties.…”

Animal models of resistance exercise and their application to neuroscience research

“…Although resistance training does not produce immediate changes in vasopressin concentrations, increases in vasopressin-positive neurons are observed in the paraventricular nucleus following a 15-day rest period (Farina et al, 2014). These findings are important because oxytocin and vasopressin are putative therapeutic targets for a variety of mental health outcomes, including anxiety, autism, and substance use disorders (Matsuzaki et al, 2012; McGregor and Bowen, 2012; Stavropoulos and Carver, 2013). Future studies that include models of anxiety-like behavior in the context of these neurobiological changes will help clarify the role of HPA axis function in the anxiolytic effects of resistance exercise.…”

The cortisol, serotonin and oxytocin are associated with repetitive behavior in autism spectrum disorder

“…Oxytocin and its receptors are also widely distributed in the central nervous system (Landgraf & Neumann, 2004). Oxytocin is a recognized hormone for uterine contractions during labor and for milk ejection during lactation in mammals (Matsuzaki, Matsushita, Tomizawa, & Matsui, 2012). It is also associated with social behavior, including social recognition, parenting behavior, and attachment (Domes, Heinrichs, Gläscher et al, 2007;IsHak, Kahloon, & Fakhry, 2011).…”