The influence of oxytocin on eating behaviours and stress in women with bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder

What Was Tested

This clinical trial paper looks at Oxytocin.

The current study aimed to test the influence of oxytocin on palatable food intake, 24-h caloric consumption, and stress in women with bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder.

Why It Was Studied

The researchers recruited 25 women with DSM-5 bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder, and 27 weight-matched comparison women without history of an eating disorder.

The order of administration was pseudo-randomised across participants.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 25 women were involved.

PubMed indexes the participants as young adults, women only.

How the Study Was Run

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

Because people in this Oxytocin study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Neither the women nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Oxytocin, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Oxytocin could be set against what happens without it.

Each person switched between Oxytocin and the comparison at some point, usually with a gap in between.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Binge-Eating Disorder, Bulimia Nervosa, Energy Intake, Feeding Behavior, Hydrocortisone, Linear Models and Oxytocin.

Author keywords: Binge eating disorder and Stress.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Oxytocin in 25 women.

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.

The publication is from 2019 (Molecular and cellular endocrinology), a journal based in Ireland.

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