Pain modulation by oxytocin
Makoto Kawasaki1, Akinori Sakai2, Yoichi Ueta3
1Center for Joint Arthroplasty, Hospital of University of Occupational and Environmental Health, 1-1 Iseigaoka Yahatanishi-ku, Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka 807-8555, Japan.
Abstract:
Oxytocin (OXT) was discovered in 1906 as a substance that promotes the pregnancy and childbirth. It affects uterine contraction and lactation. Furthermore, as one of its physiological properties, it exerts analgesic effects. The living body has an ascending pathway that transmits pain stimuli from the periphery to the center and a descending pathway that regulates the dorsal horn neurons from the upper center downward. OXT is involved in the pain-inhibitory descending pathway and generally assumed to exert analgesic effects. In this article, we describe the pain-suppressive effects of OXT, among its many physiological effects.
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