Julius Nikita Catalina, Nicholls Dasha, Nowell Joseph, Burmester Victoria
Division of Psychiatry, Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Du Cane Road, W12 0NN, London, UK.
Sci Rep. 2025 May 27;15(1):18466. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-95148-x.
The nasal cycle is a phenomenon whereby alterations in airflow alternate between left and right nostrils. During a nostril's decongested - or dominant - state, the contralateral nostril is congested, or non-dominant. Intranasal oxytocin may elicit anxiolytic effects. To date, no study has investigated whether there is an optimal nasal pathway for oxytocin's effects. Forty-four female adolescents aged 16 to 17 years were included in this exploratory study investigating effects of nasal dominance on intranasal oxytocin delivery. We show that intranasal oxytocin significantly reduces stress relative to placebo (p = 0.012, ηp = 0.145) and greater stress reduction occurs when oxytocin is delivered to the dominant, rather than non-dominant, nostril (p = 0.034, ηp = 0.113). We postulate that oxytocin administration may reduce stress and be most effective in the context of anxiolysis when administered to the dominant nostril. Further research investigating whether other intranasal psychotropic drugs have nostril-specific effects might benefit clinical practice.
鼻周期是一种气流在左右鼻孔之间交替变化的现象。在一个鼻孔处于通畅——即主导——状态时，对侧鼻孔则处于堵塞状态，即非主导状态。鼻内催产素可能会产生抗焦虑作用。迄今为止，尚无研究调查催产素发挥作用是否存在最佳鼻腔路径。这项探索性研究纳入了44名16至17岁的女性青少年，旨在研究鼻腔优势对鼻内催产素输送的影响。我们发现，与安慰剂相比，鼻内催产素能显著减轻压力（p = 0.012，ηp = 0.145），并且当催产素输送到主导鼻孔而非非主导鼻孔时，压力减轻得更多（p = 0.034，ηp = 0.113）。我们推测，在抗焦虑的情况下，向主导鼻孔给药时，催产素可能会减轻压力且效果最佳。进一步研究其他鼻内精神药物是否具有鼻孔特异性作用可能会有益于临床实践。
