White-Traut R, Powlesland J, Gelhar D, Chatterton R, Morris M
College of Nursing, University of Illinois at Chicago 60612, USA.
J Nurs Meas. 1998 Winter;6(2):155-74.
Oxytocin's (OT) role in the onset and maintenance of labor and in the letdown reflex is well known. OT also has been recognized as a neurotransmitter having functions in the central nervous system, including an influence on behavior (e.g., initiation of maternal behavior). This research was conducted to (1) evaluate whether human tactile contact in the human newborn would increase urine OT levels and alter infant behavioral state, and (2) determine the reliability of measuring OT in human infant urine. Although the data did not support the hypotheses, it was noted that OT levels significantly decreased in infants who cried during the study period and that there was no correlation between infant's chronologic age and OT levels. The findings illustrate several methodologic and measurement problems in the study of OT in human infants and that urine sampling in the neonate is not the most reliable method to evaluate change in OT levels. Some general issues concerning research with human infants also are discussed. Further research is recommended to document baseline levels of OT in neonates and to explore the use of salivary OT to measure short-term responses to interventions.
催产素（OT）在分娩发动与维持以及射乳反射中的作用已广为人知。OT还被公认为一种在中枢神经系统中发挥作用的神经递质，包括对行为产生影响（例如引发母性行为）。开展这项研究的目的是：（1）评估人类新生儿的人际触觉接触是否会提高尿液OT水平并改变婴儿的行为状态，以及（2）确定测量人类婴儿尿液中OT的可靠性。尽管数据并不支持这些假设，但值得注意的是，在研究期间哭闹的婴儿OT水平显著下降，而且婴儿的实足年龄与OT水平之间并无关联。这些发现揭示了人类婴儿OT研究中的几个方法学和测量问题，并且新生儿尿液采样并非评估OT水平变化的最可靠方法。文中还讨论了一些与人类婴儿研究相关的一般性问题。建议开展进一步研究以记录新生儿OT的基线水平，并探索使用唾液OT来测量对干预措施的短期反应。
