Gender-dependent dissociation between oxytocin but not ACTH, cortisol or TSH responses to m-chlorophenylpiperazine in healthy subjects

What Was Tested

This controlled clinical trial paper looks at Oxytocin and ACTH (Corticotropin).

M-Chlorophenylpiperazine (m-CPP), a serotonin (5-HT) agonist with some selectivity for the 5-HT2C receptor subtype, which is widely used to examine 5-HT receptor function in human subjects, has been found to induce oxytocin and thyrotropin (TSH) responses in rodents.

Why It Was Studied

This study examined whether m-CPP had any effect on plasma oxytocin, TSH and aldosterone concentration in healthy volunteers using a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design.

Who Took Part

PubMed indexes the participants as adults, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

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

Blinding on both sides kept the participants and researchers unaware of who received Oxytocin.

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

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

The Oxytocin group and the comparison group ran side by side rather than switching.

Plasma adrenocorticorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol responses, two generally accepted markers of m-CPP-induced 5-HT receptor activation, were measured in parallel.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Adrenocorticotropic Hormone, Aldosterone, Hydrocortisone, Oxytocin, Piperazines, Serotonin Receptor Agonists and Sex Factors.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a double-blind, placebo-controlled and crossover study of Oxytocin and ACTH (Corticotropin).

The publication is from 1998 (Psychopharmacology), a journal based in Germany.

More context: the Oxytocin compound page and the ACTH (Corticotropin) compound page, all human trials.