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A meta-analytic review of the impact of intranasal oxytocin administration on cortisol concentrations during laboratory tasks: Moderation by method and mental health
Abstract
Background A large body of research has examined the acute effects of intranasal oxytocin administration on social cognition and stress-regulation. While progress has been made with respect to understanding the effect of oxytocin administration on social cognition in clinical populations (e.g. autism, schizophrenia), less is known about its impact on the functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis among individuals with a mental disorder.Method We conducted a meta-analysis on the acute effect of intranasal oxytocin administration on the cortisol response to laboratory tasks. The search yielded eighteen studies employing a randomized, placebo-controlled design (k=18, N=675). Random-effects models and moderator analyses were performed using the metafor package for the statistical program R.Results The overall effect size estimate was modest and not statistically significant (Hedges g=-0.151, p=0.11) with moderate heterogeneity in this effect across studies (I(2)=31%). Controlling for baseline differences in cortisol concentrations, moderation analyses revealed that this effect was larger in response to challenging laboratory tasks that produced a robust stimulation of the HPA-axis (Hedges g=-0.433, 95% CI[-0.841, -0.025]), and in clinical populations relative to healthy controls (Hedges g=-0.742, 95% CI[-1.405, -0.078]).Conclusion Overall, oxytocin administration showed greater attenuation of the cortisol response to laboratory tasks that strongly activated the HPA-axis, relative to tasks that did not. The effect was more robust among clinical populations, suggesting possible increased sensitivity to oxytocin among those with a clinical diagnosis and concomitant social difficulties. These data support the view that oxytocin may play an important role in HPA dysfunction associated with psychopathology.
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“Accumulating evidence from studies in animals and in healthy and psychiatric human populations shows that oxytocin administration may modulate glucocorticoid (16) and autonomic stress reactivity (17), dampen anxiety and neural threat processing (18,19), and beneficially impact socioemotional processes and prosocial behavior (20,21) [but see also (22,23) for seemingly nonprosocial effects].”
From Intranasal Oxytocin to Prevent Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Emergency Department Patients (2017) · cites this paper as [16]
In the citing paper
“Intranasal oxytocin seems to only exert beneficial effects in individuals with suboptimal functioning in domains affected by oxytocin (16,32,65), although a solid neurobiological basis for this hypothesis is still lacking.”
From Intranasal Oxytocin to Prevent Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Emergency Department Patients (2017) · cites this paper as [16]
In the citing paper
“the observation that oxytocin administration had differential effects dependent on acute PTSD symptom severity adds to a growing body of literature indicating that the presence and severity of psychiatric symptoms moderates central and peripheral effects of oxytocin administration (16,64).”
From Intranasal Oxytocin to Prevent Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Emergency Department Patients (2017) · cites this paper as [16]
In the citing paper
“For example a recent meta-analysis found that a single dose of intranasal oxytocin lowered cortisol in clinical populations characterised by dysregulation of the HPA axis, but did not significantly influence the cortisol response to stressful stimuli in healthy individuals (Cardoso et al., 2014).”
From Meta-analytic review of the effects of a single dose of intranasal oxytocin on threat processing in humans (2018) · cites this paper as Cardoso et al., 2014
In the citing paper
“Indeed, a previous meta-analysis found that a single dose of oxytocin reduced the cortisol response to stressful stimuli among clinical populations (Cardoso et al., 2014).”
From Meta-analytic review of the effects of a single dose of intranasal oxytocin on threat processing in humans (2018) · cites this paper as Cardoso et al., 2014
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Metadata
- Authors
- Cardoso, C., Kingdon, D., & Ellenbogen, M. A.
- Affiliations
- Concordia University (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Cardoso, Christopher
- ORCID
- Ellenbogen, Mark A.
- Venue
- Psychoneuroendocrinology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2014-11
- Volume
- 49
- Pages
- 161-170
- ISSN
- 0306-4530 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2068582209
- Semantic Scholar
- 7bbbba514c2d4f16640a1c86c3f9e15a242e28ed
- Cited by
- 171
- References
- 65
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 9
- FWCI
- 2.10
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychoneuroendocrinology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR 12678)
- 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
- intranasal oxytocin, cortisol, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, stress response, mental illness, social cognition, psychopathology
- MeSH terms
- Administration, Intranasal, Adult, Mental Disorders, Female, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System, Male, Oxytocin, Pituitary-Adrenal System, Psychological Tests, Biomarkers, Young Adult
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