Men's sexual response to female partner's intranasal oxytocin administration for hypoactive sexual desire disorder: an open prospective cohort study

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Oxytocin in this randomized controlled trial publication.

To study sexual function, quality of life, and depression in men, whose female partners are undergoing double-blind placebo-controlled randomized treatment for hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD).

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 30 women were involved.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were middle-aged adults, both men and women.

Male partners of 30 premenopausal and postmenopausal women with HSDD.

Baseline, 3-month, and 5-month assessment (for 8 weeks each) of male response to female partner's use of oxytocin nasal spray (32 IE) and placebo within 50 minutes before sexual intercourse.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and crossover.

The women were allocated by chance, so the Oxytocin group and the comparison group should start out alike.

As a double-blind Oxytocin study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

Some women received a placebo instead of Oxytocin, giving a reference point.

In the crossover set-up each of the women took both Oxytocin and the comparison in turn, acting as their own control.

A time span of 8 weeks appears in the methods.

Open prospective cohort study of 22 weeks.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Academic Medical Centers, Administration, Inhalation, Austria, Depression, Oxytocin, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales and Quality of Life.

The authors tagged it with the keywords Male sexual function and hypoactive sexual desire disorder.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Oxytocin in 30 women over 8 weeks.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

Its findings take up roughly 7 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2017 (Fertility and sterility), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Oxytocin compound page, all human trials.