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Preliminary evidence that plasma oxytocin levels are elevated in major depression
Open accessAbstract
It is well established that the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) is involved in regulating social behavior, anxiety, and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis physiology in mammals. Because individuals with major depression often exhibit functional irregularities in these measures, we test in this pilot study whether depressed subjects (n=11) exhibit dysregulated OT biology compared to healthy control subjects (n=19). Subjects were hospitalized overnight and blood samples were collected hourly between 1800 and 0900h. Plasma levels of OT, the closely related neuropeptide argine-vasopressin (AVP), and cortisol were quantified. Results indicated that depressed subjects exhibit increased OT levels compared to healthy control subjects, and this difference is most apparent during the nocturnal peak. No depression-related differences in AVP or cortisol levels were discerned. This depression-related elevation in plasma OT levels is consistent with reports of increased hypothalamic OT-expressing neurons and OT mRNA in depressed patients. This present finding is likewise consistent with the hypothesis that dysregulated OT biology may be a biomarker of the emotional distress and impaired social relationships which characterize major depression. Additional research is required to elucidate the role of OT in the pathophysiology of this psychiatric disorder.
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“For example, plasma levels of OT appear to vary with autism spectrum disorder (Modahl et al., 1998), parenting styles (Feldman et al., 2007;Gordon et al., 2010) and major depression (Parker et al., 2010).”
From The effect of oxytocin on cooperation in a prisoner's dilemma depends on the social context and a person's social value orientation (2014) · cites this paper as Parker et al., 2010
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Metadata
- Authors
- Parker, K. J., Kenna, H. A., Zeitzer, J. M., Keller, J., Blasey, C. M., Amico, J. A., & Schatzberg, A. F.
- Affiliations
- Stanford Medicine (US)
- VA Palo Alto Health Care System (US)
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- Corresponding author
- Parker, Karen J.
- Venue
- Psychiatry Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2010-07
- Volume
- 178
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 359-362
- ISSN
- 0165-1781 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC2902664
- OpenAlex
- W2146551770
- Cited by
- 163
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 11
- FWCI
- 19.16
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Psychiatry Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (MH50604, MH66537, RR-00070)
- The Pritzker Foundation
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuropeptides and Animal Physiology
- Keywords
- oxytocin, major depressive disorder, plasma oxytocin, vasopressin, cortisol, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, depression biomarkers, social behavior, anxiety
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Major Depressive Disorder, Female, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Male, Middle Aged, Oxytocin, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Regression Analysis, Vasopressins
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