Oxytocin in infants with Prader-Willi syndrome to improve dysphagia and disease trajectory

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial paper looks at Oxytocin.

OBJECTIVE: Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a genetic neurodevelopmental disorder with a characteristic trajectory.

Why It Was Studied

METHODS: the researchers enrolled 52 infants with PWS (median age 2.2 months) in a European double-blind randomized placebo-controlled study.

A second randomization in each group was performed.

Who Took Part

The study group was 52 infants.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were infants, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

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.

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

A placebo (an inactive look-alike) gave the Oxytocin group a baseline to be compared against.

The timeline in the abstract includes 26 weeks.

Infants in the placebo group were randomized into 4 weeks of OT followed by 4 weeks of placebo or 8 consecutive weeks of OT.

Those in the OT group were randomized into additional 4 weeks of OT followed by 4 weeks of placebo or 8 consecutive weeks of placebo.

Infants were followed-up to 26 weeks from baseline.

Feeding skills were evaluated using Neonatal Oral-Motor Scale (NOMAS) as primary endpoint and videofluoroscopy of swallowing study (VFSS) as key secondary endpoint.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Prader-Willi Syndrome, Oxytocin and Deglutition Disorders.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Oxytocin in 52 infants over 26 weeks.

The publication is from 2026 (Orphanet journal of rare diseases), a journal based in England.

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