Oxytocin is a natural hormone that is released by the brain to help people bond with others. It is the hormone that helps bring on labor during childbirth, and the production of milk in lactating mothers. It is responsible for that strong bond between mother and child. Apart from this, oxytocin has also been found to strengthen the bond between partners during and after sex, and higher production levels can be triggered by many types of touching, such as kissing, cuddling and orgasm. Oxytocin also has an integral role to play in the formation of trust. The Zrich University study, led by Dr. Thomas Baumgartner et al, “highlights the neural mechanisms through which oxytocin acts to facilitate trust behaviour by investigating what happens in the brain when trust breaks down”.
Oxytocin helps people to forgive and forget. Volunteers are given either an oxytocin nasal spray or a placebo. The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to scan and monitor each person. The hormone oxytocin increases empathy and communication, key to sustaining a relationship between mates. A different line of evidence about oxytocin’s role in love comes from genetics. A study published in Biological Psychiatry was the first to assess whether people with variations in their oxytocin-receptor gene have a harder time maintaining romantic relationships than those who don’t. HasseWalum et-al, a graduate student at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and his colleagues took advantage of Swedish twin studies that included thousands of participants, their genetic information and their answers to questions about how affectionate they were with their romantic partners. They found that women with a specific variation weren’t as close to their partners as women without it. These women were also more likely to report having had a marital crisis. Although researchers don’t know exactly how this variation affects the oxytocin system, it may result in a lower number of oxytocin receptors in the brain. People with fewer receptors would be less sensitive to the hormone’s effects. In a study oxytocin receptor genes are also linked to empathy in couples. The gene that have been linked with an increased risk for autism, a disorder that is marked by major social communication deficits. The more of these risk variants a person had, the less empathy they showed toward their partner when that partner shared a distressing experience. Oxytocin has been shown to help people with autism improve their ability to recognize emotion, and it was found that the same receptor variant that increases risk for marital crisis in women is linked to social problems in girls. These include trouble getting along with others and a preference for being alone. Oxytocin’s importance for the mother–child bond suggests that the hormone is more involved in the communication component of love between couples than the romantic component of love. People in couple therapy by facilitating empathic communication. The research has shown that people who get oxytocin are more focused on positive emotion: they remember happy faces better than angry and neutral ones. Research by others has shown that oxytocin increases trust, generosity and our ability to identify emotion in facial expressions. It is perhaps by these mechanisms that the hormone improves communication. Researcher’s thinks it will increase perspective-taking and reduce blame, leading to smoother communication and better problem-solving. These types of behaviours are intimately linked with oxytocin in a positive feedback. Oxytocin can elicit loving behaviours, but giving and receiving these behaviors also promotes the release of oxytocin and leads to more of these behaviours,” she says. She thinks that talk therapy alone can boost the oxytocin system, but admits that in some cases it might help to jump-start the feedback loop by administering oxytocin. Talk and hormone therapy together might be the best recipe for breaking down dysfunctional communication between partners, especially in cases where the behaviours have been learned in childhood.Although research has shown that good communication predicts relationship success, successful communication in couples therapy would not ensure that partners stay together. The motive is to help the two people understand each other’s point of view and come to a mutual decision, even after break up. If people are not connected at all, then oxytocin is not going to force that connection.Oxytocin, the natural love drug plays a crucial role in nurturing our relationships, strengthening friendships, building trust and enduring marriages. Oxytocin is released in response to hugs, kisses, caresses and sometimes a simple touch. A hug prompts the release of oxytocin, leading to feelings of closeness, sexual intimacy, and the release of more oxytocin. In fact, orgasm produces a spike in the hormone more than two times the normal level, responsible for the calming. Sustained intake of oxytocin is associated with onset of early puberty in children. Dr Rahul Kumar, pharmacologist with Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University said, “Oxytocin adversely affects growth hormones especially in females because of which minor girls attain early puberty,". Researchers have claimed that administering the hormone oxytocin, which facilitates attachment and bonding, to couples may improve their marital life. The University of Oxford researchers that an intranasal dose of the oxytocin along with marriage counselling could help married partners get closer. Scientists have found that men and women are affected differently by 'the love hormone' in social contexts. Prof. Simone Shamay-Tsoory et-al from the Dept. of Psychology at the University of Haifa, led the research, reported that these findings are in agreement with earlier studies on the social differences between the sexes that women tend to be more communal and familial in their behaviour, whereas men are more inclined to be competitive and striving to improve their social status.If we think that the only benefit of sex is, well, pleasure, here's some news. Making love is good for adults and making love regularly is even better it will help to sleep well, relieve stress and burn calories, there are also several other reasons why there is a need to have sex more often, it Improves cardiovascular health. A recent study says that men who have sex more than twice a week, have a lesser risk of getting a heart attack, than men who had sex less.Trust is something that most people strive to achieve. It is an essential part of forming meaningful and deep relationships, both at work and on a personal level. Without trust, the act of maintaining a relationship can be extremely hard work and unrewarding.Trust is something that can often take many years to build up. However, it can be instantly broken; for example, in a marriage if one partner has an affair, it can be extremely difficult to win back that trust. In many cases, it can prove to be impossible. For those people who have been betrayed in the past, it may be difficult to form trusting relationships with new friends or partners going forward. In extreme cases, where a person has been betrayed, they may start to avoid social interactions with other people. This can often lead to social phobias and disorders.The good news is that there may be help out there for those that find it difficult to trust others.
Love Hormone:
Oxytocin is the naturally occuring hormone that is often referred to as the “love hormone.” The oxytocin factor is what leads to sociability, trust, generosity, empathy and closeness between people. It is also responsible for creating that unbreakable bond between mother and child, as well as contributing towards fidelity and togetherness in long term relationships. Oxytocin, which is often dubbed the “love drug” by many scientists, is thought to play a key role in helping the brain to recover following cases of betrayal. Trust is essential to building social relationships, and breaches of trust have a significant effect on our social behavior. Understanding the relationship between oxytocin and trust will be an important step forward for those looking to provide treatment for people with trust issues. Oxytocin Factor is a non-prescription supplemental oxytocin in either a sublingual liquid, which is dripped underneath the tongue, or a nasal spray for quick and convenient application. Oxytocin, which has been scientifically found to have many benefits such as weight loss, better sex and improved sleep, has now been found to help people work together in groups.
Long-term Treatment for Autism:
Oxytocin, which is often referred to as the ‘love hormone,’ is a peptide that is used to help new mothers lactate, and is also credited as helping to form that unbreakable bond between mother and child. The hormone, which has been involved in the treatment of many health issues, has catalyzed nummer of scientific and psychological experiments to further investigate its many possible uses. Due to its bonding capabilities, oxytocin has been linked to social relationships and have possibilities as a treatment for many forms of psychiatric or developmental disorders, including autism. Around one in every 110 children is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Affecting the daily lives of millions of people across the world, scientists are yet to determine either the cure or the cause. Autism Spectrum Disorder can have mild to severe affects on development to cope with them remains a major issue for the health industry and for the families of those affected.An exciting new animal study has found that the hormone oxytocin could be a potential breakthrough weight loss treatment.
Role of 'Love Hormone' Oxytocin in Brain Function:
Oxytocin, acting as a neurohormone in the brain, not only reduces background noise, but more importantly, increases the strength of desired signals. "Oxytocin has a remarkable effect on the passage of information through the brain," says Richard W. Tsien, DPhil, the Druckenmiller Professor of Neuroscience and director of the Neuroscience Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center. "It not only quiets background activity, but also increases the accuracy of stimulated impulse firing. Our experiments show how the activity of brain circuits can be sharpened andre-tuning of brain circuits might go awry in conditions like autism. "Children and adults with autism-spectrum disorder (ASD) struggle with recognizing the emotions of others and are easily distracted by extraneous features of their environment. Studies have shown that children with autism have lower levels of oxytocin and mutations in the oxytocin receptor gene predispose people to autism. Recent brain recordings from people with ASD show impairments in the transmission of even simple sensory signals. Oxytocin acted in the hippocampus, a region of the brain involved in memory and cognition. The hormone stimulated nerve cells called inhibitory inter-neurons to release a chemical called GABA. This substance dampens the activity of the adjoining excitatory nerve cells, known as pyramidal cells. Weight loss is one of the most challenging issues for people .Oxytocin, a reproductive hormone, has been found to regulate food intake and energy metabolism. The study’s leaders reported how oxytocin helps initiate uterus contractions in women, and stimulates the milk-producing glands during child birth. Hormone imbalance is now an issue that professionals believe to be the underlying cause of many problems, which often start out small, but progress to form life-changing ailments. This is significant because it is very easy to address such an imbalance with prescriptions and supplements. The problems that are associated with hormone imbalance are extremely varied, though usually relate to psychological and emotional conditions.
Structure and expression of a human oxytocin receptor: Just before the on set of labour, uterine myometrium becomes extremely sensitive to oxytocin1 for which it is a primary target tissue, because of a dramatic increase in the number of oxytocin receptors2,3. The structure and expression of the human oxytocin receptor complementary DNA isolated by expression cloning. The encoded receptor is a 388-amino-acidpolypeptide with 7 transmembrane domains typical of G protein-coupled receptors. The oxytocin receptor, expressed in Xenopus oocytes, specifically responds to oxytocin and induces an inward membrane current. Messenger RNAs for the receptor are of two sizes, 3.6 kilobases in breast, and 4.4 kilobases in ovary, uterine endometrium and myometrium. The mRNA level in the myometrium is very high at term. Researchers conclude that the increase in receptor number in the myometrium at labour is, at least in part, due to the increase in mRNA. Specific binding of tritiated oxytocin to uterine receptors of pregnant rats increases dramatically at term and is maximal during labor. In mammary glands the increase in binding is gradual, reaching a maximum during the lactation period. Concomitant changes in the sensitivity of the uterus and mammary gland to oxytocin indicate that the receptor concentration is of functional significance. Oxytocin receptors, therefore, may regulate the response of the target organs to circulating oxytocin and thereby control the onset of labor and lactation. Ovarian steroids participate in the regulation of oxytocin receptors in a manner as yet to be clarify. In studies conducted during labor, plasma OT concentrations did not correlate with uterine pressure measurements and did not increase significantly over baseline pregnancy concentrations during the latent (1.3 ± 0.2 µU/ml) or active (1.6 ± 0.2 µU/ml) phases of labor. According to researchers, there was a significant increase in plasma OT levels from the time of initial visualization of the fetal head to the time of delivery of the head (1.1 ± 0.1 to 4.2 ± 1.1 µU/ml, respectively; P < 0.05). This data support the view that maternal plasma OT levels remain low during pregnancy until late in the second stage of labor. Plasma Oxytocin Concentrations in Men, Non-pregnant Women and Pregnant Women before and during Spontaneous Labor. Scientists claim a naturally occurring substance produced in the brain (dubbed the ‘love hormone’) improves the brain function in autistic children.This discovery brings fresh hope to those who suffer from autism-related social-communicative dysfunctions, which include stranger anxiety in social environments, separation distress and lack of non-verbal communication (lack of eye contact, pointing, smiling). Oxytocin is a hormone that is released in the brain when people hug, kiss, touch and have sex. It's also released during the postnatal bonding period between a mother and her newborn and during. This was followed by a functional magnetic resonance brain imaging scan (fMRI), which detected the areas of the brain that were directly affected by the oxytocin. The results revealed an almost immediate activation of brain regions that are known to control and manage communication and social dysfunctions involved in autism.For those previously found it extremely difficult to engage spontaneously in social situations andavoided eye contact with people (all classic symptoms of autism and ASD), oxytocin greatly improved their social, cooperative and engagment skills. Oxytocin, the 'trust hormone,' could become new interrogation tool. A hormone that helps mothers bond with new-borns could make interrogations easier, but it may be illegal. Work is goingon a pill that would stimulate oxytocin production in people's brains, making the effect much stronger.
References
1. Cunningham F. G. MacDonald, P. C. & Gant, N. F. in Williams Obstetrics 18th (edn.) 187−226 (Appleton & Lange, Norwalk, Conneticut/San Mateo, California, 1989).
2. Soloff, M. S., Alexandrova, M. &Fernstrom, M. A. Science 204, 1313−1315 (1979).
3. Fuchs, A. R., Fuchs, F., Husslein, P. &Soloff, M. S. Am. J. Obstet. Gynec. 150, 734−741 (1984).
4. Sigel, E. J. Membrane Biol. 117, 201−221 (1990).
5. Kimura, T. et al. J. Steroid Biochem. molec Biol. (in the press).
6. Morley, S. D., Meyerhof, W., Schwarz, J. & Richter, D. J. molec. Endocr. 1, 77−81 (1988).
7. Hirono, C., Ito, I. & Sugiyama, H. J. Physiol., Lond. 382, 523−535 (1987).
8. Masu, Y. et al. Nature 329, 836−838 (1987).
9. Julius, D., MacDermott, A. B., Axel, R. &Jessell, T. M. Science 241, 558−564 (1988).
10. Masu, M., Tanabe, Y., Tsuchida, K., Shigemoto, R. & Nakanishi, S. Nature 349, 760−765 (1991).
11. Kozak, M. Nucleic Acids Res. 15, 8125−8148 (1987).
12. Kyte, J. & Doolittle, R. F. J. molec. Biol. 157, 105−132 (1982).
13. Hubbard, S. C. &Ivatt, R. J. A. Rev. Biochem. 50, 555−583 (1981).
14. Kennelly, P. J. & Krebs, E. G. J. biol. Chem. 266, 15555−15558 (1991).
15. Hugeuenin, R. L. Helv. chim. Acta 47, 1934−1941 (1964)
16. Bankowski, K., Manning, M., Seto, J., Haldar, J. & Sawyer, W. H. Int. J. Peptide Protein Res. 16, 382−391 (1980).
17. Fuchs, A. R. et al. Endocrinology 127, 629−636 (1990).
18. Sernia, C., Gemmell, R. T. & Thomas, W. G. J. Endocr. 121, 117−123 (1989).
19. Fuchs, A. R. et al. Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 163, 1961−1967 (1990).
20. Okayama, H. et al. Meth. Enzym. 154, 3−28 (1987).
21. Noma, Y. et al. Nature 319, 640−646 (1986).
22. Sanger, F., Nicklen, S. & Coulson, A. R. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 74, 5463−5467 (1977).
23. Peralta, E. G. et al. EMBO J. 6, 3923−3929 (1987).
24. Kobilka, B. K. et al. Procnatn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 84, 46−50 (1987).
25. Yokota, Y. et al. J. biol. Chem. 264, 17649−17652 (1989).
26. Hirata, M. et al. Nature 349, 617−620 (1991).
27. Nathans, J. &Hogness, D. S. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 81, 4851−4855 (1984).
About Authors:
Pooja Dhiman
M.Sc[I.C(Pharmaceuticals),
Faculty in Chemistry, School of Engineering and Technology
Chitkara University
Pooja.dhimanmanshi@gmail.com
NOW YOU CAN ALSO PUBLISH YOUR ARTICLE ONLINE.
SUBMIT YOUR ARTICLE/PROJECT AT articles@pharmatutor.org
Subscribe to Pharmatutor Alerts by Email
FIND OUT MORE ARTICLES AT OUR DATABASE
.png)
