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      The orgasmic history of oxytocin: Love, lust, and labor

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          Abstract

          Oxytocin has been best known for its roles in female reproduction. It is released in large amounts during labor, and after stimulation of the nipples. It is a facilitator for childbirth and breastfeeding. However, recent studies have begun to investigate oxytocin's role in various behaviors, including orgasm, social recognition, bonding, and maternal behaviors. This small nine amino acid peptide is now believed to be involved in a wide variety of physiological and pathological functions such as sexual activity, penile erection, ejaculation, pregnancy, uterine contraction, milk ejection, maternal behavior, social bonding, stress and probably many more, which makes oxytocin and its receptor potential candidates as targets for drug therapy. From an innocuous agent as an aid in labor and delivery, oxytocin has come a long way in being touted as the latest party drug. The hormone of labor during the course of the last 100 years has had multiple orgasms to be the hormone of love. Many more shall be seen in the times to come!

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          Most cited references34

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          Oxytocin: the great facilitator of life.

          Oxytocin (Oxt) is a nonapeptide hormone best known for its role in lactation and parturition. Since 1906 when its uterine-contracting properties were described until 50 years later when its sequence was elucidated, research has focused on its peripheral roles in reproduction. Only over the past several decades have researchers focused on what functions Oxt might have in the brain, the subject of this review. Immunohistochemical studies revealed that magnocellular neurons of the hypothalamic paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei are the neurons of origin for the Oxt released from the posterior pituitary. Smaller cells in various parts of the brain, as well as release from magnocellular dendrites, provide the Oxt responsible for modulating various behaviors at its only identified receptor. Although Oxt is implicated in a variety of "non-social" behaviors, such as learning, anxiety, feeding and pain perception, it is Oxt's roles in various social behaviors that have come to the fore recently. Oxt is important for social memory and attachment, sexual and maternal behavior, and aggression. Recent work implicates Oxt in human bonding and trust as well. Human disorders characterized by aberrant social interactions, such as autism and schizophrenia, may also involve Oxt expression. Many, if not most, of Oxt's functions, from social interactions (affiliation, aggression) and sexual behavior to eventual parturition, lactation and maternal behavior, may be viewed as specifically facilitating species propagation.
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            Plasma oxytocin levels in autistic children.

            Social impairments are central to the syndrome of autism. The neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) has been implicated in the regulation of social behavior in animals but has not yet been examined in autistic subjects. To determine whether autistic children have abnormalities in OT, midday plasma samples from 29 autistic and 30 age-matched normal children, all prepubertal, were analyzed by radioimmunoassay for levels of OT. Despite individual variability and overlapping group distributions, the autistic group had significantly lower plasma OT levels than the normal group. OT increased with age in the normal but not the autistic children. Elevated OT was associated with higher scores on social and developmental measures for the normal children, but was associated with lower scores for the autistic children. These relationships were strongest in a subset of autistic children identified as aloof. Although making inferences to central OT functioning from peripheral measurement is difficult, the data suggest that OT abnormalities may exist in autism, and that more direct investigation of central nervous system OT function is warranted.
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              Plasma oxytocin increases in the human sexual response.

              The purpose of this study was to determine whether plasma oxytocin (OT) levels change during human sexual responses and, if so, to demonstrate the temporal pattern of change. Plasma OT levels were measured by RIA before, during, and after private self-stimulation to orgasm in normal men (n = 9) and women (n = 13). Blood samples were collected continuously through indwelling venous catheters. The subjects pressed a signal to indicate the start and finish of orgasm/ejaculation. Objective assessment of sexual arousal and orgasm was obtained by measuring blood-pulse amplitude and electromyographic activity, recorded continuously throughout testing from an anal device containing a photoplethysmograph and electromyograph electrodes connected to a polygraph located in an adjacent room. These measures allowed collection of data from men and women of changes in blood flow and muscle activity in the lower pelvic/pubic area. Plasma OT levels increased during sexual arousal in both women and men and were significantly higher during orgasm/ejaculation than during prior baseline testing. We suggest that the temporal pattern of secretion could be related to smooth muscle contractions of the reproductive system during orgasm.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Indian J Endocrinol Metab
                IJEM
                Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism
                Medknow Publications (India )
                2230-8210
                2230-9500
                September 2011
                : 15
                : Suppl3
                : S156-S161
                Affiliations
                [1] Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Air Force Hospital, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India
                [1 ] Department of Endocrinology, Bharti Hospital and B.R.I.D.E., Karnal, Haryana, India
                Author notes
                Corresponding Author: Dr. Navneet Magon, Obstetrician, Gynaecologist and Endoscopic Surgeon, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Air Force Hospital, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. E-mail: navneetmagon@ 123456gmail.com
                Article
                IJEM-15-156
                10.4103/2230-8210.84851
                3183515
                22029018
                f0337337-56bc-4283-b9c5-fdde5b792e39
                Copyright: © Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism

                This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                Categories
                Review Article

                Endocrinology & Diabetes
                endocrinology,history,pitocin,obstetrics,love,oxytocin,labor
                Endocrinology & Diabetes
                endocrinology, history, pitocin, obstetrics, love, oxytocin, labor

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