Oxytocin bound to its carrier protein neurophysin. Credit: Edgar
Key points:
- Researchers demonstrated patients with a deficiency of vasopressin are also deficient in oxytocin, which controls social interaction and emotions.
- A single dose of ecstasy significantly raised oxytocin levels in health individuals, and contributed to pro-social behavior.
- The results are the first to demonstrate the existence of a clinically relevant oxytocin deficiency.
The hormone oxytocin is key when it comes to social interaction and controlling emotions. For a long time, a deficiency of this hormone was presumed to exist in various diseases, including autism, but had not been proven. Now, for the first time, researchers from the University of Basel and the University Hospital of Basel have succeeded in demonstrating a deficiency of oxytocin in patients with a deficiency of vasopressin caused by a disease of the pituitary gland.
The hormones vasopressin and oxytocin are very similar in structure and produced in the same area of the brain. A nasal spray or a tablet is usually prescribed for those with low levels of vasopressin, but many patients report trouble with social interactions, anxiety and impaired emotional awareness.
In their study, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, the research team showed that oxytocin levels are 8.5 times higher in healthy individuals after a single dose of MDMA—better known as ectasy—while they remain unchanged in those with vasopressin deficiency. The team says this provides strong evidence that their production of oxytocin is also impaired.
As expected, the increase in oxytocin in the healthy individuals after a dose of MDMA caused pro-social behavior and an increase in empathy, combined with a reduction in anxiety symptoms. The patients with vasopressin deficiency, on the other hand, showed no changes in these areas.
“These results therefore prove for the first time that a clinically relevant oxytocin deficiency actually exists. This finding opens up new therapeutic possibilities and could also be interesting for other diseases such as autism,” said Mirjam Christ-Crain, study leader and deputy head of endocrinology at the University Hospital.
The researchers are now planning a large study to investigate oxytocin’s treatment and if it can improve the psychological symptoms in patients with vasopressin deficiency.