Cyranowski Jill M, Hofkens Tara L, Frank Ellen, Seltman Howard, Cai Hou-Ming, Amico Janet A
School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Psychosom Med. 2008 Nov;70(9):967-75. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0b013e318188ade4.
Oxytocin is a hypothalamic neuropeptide that plays a key role in mammalian female reproductive function. Animal research indicates that central oxytocin facilitates adaptive social attachments and modulates stress and anxiety responses. Major depression is prevalent among postpubertal females, and is associated with perturbations in social attachments, dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal stress axis, and elevated levels of anxiety. Thus, depressed women may be at risk to display oxytocin dysregulation. The current study was developed to compare patterns of peripheral oxytocin release exhibited by depressed and nondepressed women.
Currently depressed (N = 17) and never-depressed (N = 17) women participated in a laboratory protocol designed to stimulate, measure, and compare peripheral oxytocin release in response to two tasks: an affiliation-focused Guided Imagery task and a Speech Stress task. Intermittent blood samples were drawn over the course of two, 1-hour sessions including 20-minute baseline, 10-minute task, and 30-minute recovery periods.
The 10-minute laboratory tasks did not induce identifiable, acute changes in peripheral oxytocin. However, as compared with nondepressed controls, depressed women displayed greater variability in pulsatile oxytocin release over the course of both 1-hour sessions, and greater oxytocin concentrations during the 1-hour affiliation-focused imagery session. Oxytocin concentrations obtained during the imagery session were also associated with greater symptoms of depression, anxiety, and interpersonal dysfunction.
Depressed women are more likely than controls to display a dysregulated pattern of peripheral oxytocin release. Further research is warranted to elucidate the clinical significance of peripheral oxytocin release in both depressed and nondepressed women.
催产素是一种下丘脑神经肽,在哺乳动物雌性生殖功能中起关键作用。动物研究表明,中枢催产素促进适应性社会依恋,并调节应激和焦虑反应。重度抑郁症在青春期后女性中很普遍,与社会依恋紊乱、下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺应激轴失调以及焦虑水平升高有关。因此,抑郁女性可能存在催产素失调的风险。本研究旨在比较抑郁和非抑郁女性外周催产素释放模式。
目前处于抑郁状态的女性(N = 17)和从未抑郁的女性(N = 17)参与了一项实验室方案,该方案旨在刺激、测量和比较对两项任务的外周催产素释放:一项以依恋为重点的引导性意象任务和一项言语应激任务。在两个1小时的时段内间歇性采集血样,包括20分钟的基线期、10分钟的任务期和30分钟的恢复期。
10分钟的实验室任务未诱导外周催产素出现可识别的急性变化。然而,与非抑郁对照组相比,抑郁女性在两个1小时时段内的催产素脉冲式释放变异性更大,并且在1小时的以依恋为重点的意象时段内催产素浓度更高。在意象时段获得的催产素浓度也与更严重的抑郁、焦虑和人际功能障碍症状相关。
与对照组相比,抑郁女性更有可能表现出外周催产素释放失调的模式。有必要进一步研究以阐明外周催产素释放在抑郁和非抑郁女性中的临床意义。