Newswise — Oxytocin is a hormone that plays a crucial role in social interactions and regulating emotions. Although it was suspected to be deficient in various diseases such as autism, there was no concrete evidence to support this assumption. However, researchers from the University of Basel and the University Hospital of Basel have now shown, for the first time, that patients with a pituitary gland disease that causes a deficiency of vasopressin also have a deficiency of oxytocin. This discovery could be important in developing new treatments for these patients.
Oxytocin and vasopressin are both produced in the same area of the brain and have a similar structure. Patients with a rare vasopressin deficiency cannot concentrate their urine and lose a significant amount of water, sometimes several liters, as a result. To compensate for this loss, they are required to drink up to 10 or more liters of water per day.
Patients with vasopressin deficiency can usually be treated with a nasal spray or tablet that contains artificially produced vasopressin to relieve their symptoms. However, even with this treatment, some patients still experience anxiety, difficulties with social interactions, or impaired emotional awareness.
The symptoms mentioned earlier could be attributed to a lack of oxytocin, which is also called the "bonding hormone." Dr. Cihan Atila, an endocrinologist and the lead author of a study published in the journal Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, explains that the close proximity of the production of both hormones means that disorders that cause vasopressin deficiency could potentially affect the neurons that produce oxytocin.
Oxytocin boosters only work on the healthy
Measuring oxytocin levels can be challenging, and a "stimulation test" is required to obtain accurate results. This test stimulates the secretion of oxytocin, which means that the hormone is released into the body. One way to stimulate oxytocin secretion is by using MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methamphetamine), which is commonly known as ecstasy.
A new study led by Professor Mirjam Christ-Crain from the University of Basel and the University Hospital of Basel has demonstrated that a single dose of MDMA can raise oxytocin levels by 8.5 times in healthy individuals. However, in patients with vasopressin deficiency, the levels of oxytocin remained unchanged. This finding suggests that oxytocin production may be impaired in patients with vasopressin deficiency.
The healthy individuals who were given MDMA showed an increase in oxytocin levels which led to more pro-social behavior, increased empathy and a reduction in anxiety. In contrast, the patients with vasopressin deficiency did not show any changes in these areas after receiving MDMA, which suggests that they may have a deficiency in oxytocin.
Therapy with oxytocin?
The discovery of a clinically relevant oxytocin deficiency in patients with vasopressin deficiency could provide new therapeutic approaches for treating social and emotional symptoms in these patients. Moreover, this finding may have implications for other conditions that have been associated with oxytocin deficiency, such as autism. Study leader Mirjam Christ-Crain suggests that this research opens up new possibilities for treating these conditions.
The study's findings help us understand how the hormone oxytocin affects our social and emotional behavior. The researchers plan to conduct a bigger study to see if treating people who lack vasopressin with oxytocin can improve their psychological symptoms.
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