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Study · Measured the body's own peptide · 2025

6 results

Reduction of oxytocin plasma levels in borderline personality disorder and normalization induced by psychotherapies.

Bocchio Chiavetto L, Tardito D, Galbiati C, Ferrari C, Lanfredi M, Pedrini L, Carcione A, Riccardi I, Nicolò G, Rossi R

Psychological medicine21 Mar 2025Cited by 5 (Europe PMC)

PMID40114597 (opens in a new tab)PMCIDPMC12080657 (opens in a new tab)DOI10.1017/s003329172500042x (opens in a new tab)PepBankPUB-40114597
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Summary

BackgroundBorderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe mental disorder characterized by emotional dysregulation, impulsive behaviors, and difficulties in interpersonal relationships. Despite the poor understanding of the underlying biological processes, the oxytocin (OXT) system may be involved in and mediate some of BPD's symptomatic and behavioral aspects. To clarify OXT's role in BPD, we assessed its plasma levels and modulations induced by psychotherapies in patients.MethodsFifty BPD patients and 28 healthy controls (HC) participated in the study; patients were randomly assigned to two psychotherapeutic treatments: metacognitive interpersonal therapy and structured clinical management. Clinical and psychometric measures were assessed, and plasma was collected at baseline (T0) and in patients after 6 (T6) and 12 (T12) months of treatment. OXT was quantified by a radioimmunoassay technique.ResultsBPD patients showed lower plasma OXT at T0 than HC (p = 0.002), and a correlation was observed (r = -0.36, p = 0.017) between low OXT concentrations and high Attachment Style Questionnaire - Italian Version-Preoccupation with Relationships subscale scores. OXT changed significantly over time in patients (p = 0.049) with an increase particularly evident from baseline to T6 (p = 0.022), without significant difference between treatment groups. OXT changes (T0 - T12) inversely correlated with symptom improvement as changes in the Zanarini Rating Scale for borderline personality disorder (r = 0.387, p = 0.006) and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (r = 0.387, p = 0.005) scores during treatment.ConclusionsOXT alteration in BPD patients and the regularizing effect of long-term psychotherapies support an involvement of the OXT system in the disease and in treatment impact. More research is needed to fully understand the underlying causal mechanisms linking OXT with pathogenesis and psychotherapy outcomes.
CC BYText from Europe PMC. Highlighted sentences are the source of results.

Results from this study6

No result from this study comes from a test of the peptide.

Natural levels measured6

These results measure the body's own peptide. Nobody was given the peptide. They are not evidence about taking it. They are left out of key results, evidence counts and charts.

  1. 01HumanEndogenous levelRandomized controlled trialOther

    In patients with borderline personality disorder, plasma oxytocin changed over time during psychotherapy, with an increase most evident from baseline to 6 months.

    In plain wordsIn people with borderline personality disorder, the body's own oxytocin levels rose during psychotherapy, mostly in the first 6 months.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    IncreaseChange in plasma OXT over 12 months of psychotherapy
    Study

    n: not reported in source

    Outcome group
    Endogenous peptide levels · Mental health and mood

    Source sentences

    Summary
    OXT changed significantly over time in patients (p = 0.049) with an increase particularly evident from baseline to T6 (p = 0.022), without significant difference between treatment groups.
    2 context sentences
    Summary · context
    Fifty BPD patients and 28 healthy controls (HC) participated in the study; patients were randomly assigned to two psychotherapeutic treatments: metacognitive interpersonal therapy and structured clinical management.
    Summary · context
    OXT was quantified by a radioimmunoassay technique.

    This result measures the body's own Oxytocin. Nobody was given the peptide. It is not evidence about taking it.

  2. 02HumanEndogenous levelRandomized controlled trialOther

    In patients with borderline personality disorder, the change in plasma oxytocin did not differ between the two psychotherapy groups.

    In plain wordsIn people with borderline personality disorder, the body's own oxytocin changed about the same with both kinds of psychotherapy.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    No significant changePlasma OXT change, comparison of the two psychotherapies
    Study

    n: not reported in source

    Outcome group
    Endogenous peptide levels · Mental health and mood

    Source sentences

    Summary
    without significant difference between treatment groups.
    2 context sentences
    Summary · context
    Fifty BPD patients and 28 healthy controls (HC) participated in the study; patients were randomly assigned to two psychotherapeutic treatments: metacognitive interpersonal therapy and structured clinical management.
    Summary · context
    OXT was quantified by a radioimmunoassay technique.

    This result measures the body's own Oxytocin. Nobody was given the peptide. It is not evidence about taking it.

  3. 03HumanEndogenous levelRandomized controlled trialOther

    In patients with borderline personality disorder, the change in plasma oxytocin over 12 months correlated with the change in the Zanarini Rating Scale score.

    In plain wordsIn people with borderline personality disorder, changes in the body's own oxytocin were linked to changes in symptom scores during treatment.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    Not applicableCorrelation of OXT change with change in ZAN-BPD score
    Study

    n: not reported in source

    Outcome group
    Endogenous peptide levels · Mental health and mood

    Source sentences

    Summary
    OXT changes (T0 - T12) inversely correlated with symptom improvement as changes in the Zanarini Rating Scale for borderline personality disorder (r = 0.387, p = 0.006) and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (r = 0.387, p = 0.005) scores during treatment.
    2 context sentences
    Summary · context
    Fifty BPD patients and 28 healthy controls (HC) participated in the study; patients were randomly assigned to two psychotherapeutic treatments: metacognitive interpersonal therapy and structured clinical management.
    Summary · context
    OXT was quantified by a radioimmunoassay technique.

    This result measures the body's own Oxytocin. Nobody was given the peptide. It is not evidence about taking it.

  4. 04HumanEndogenous levelRandomized controlled trialOther

    In patients with borderline personality disorder, the change in plasma oxytocin over 12 months correlated with the change in the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale score.

    In plain wordsIn people with borderline personality disorder, changes in the body's own oxytocin were linked to changes in emotion regulation scores during treatment.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    Not applicableCorrelation of OXT change with change in DERS score
    Study

    n: not reported in source

    Outcome group
    Endogenous peptide levels · Mental health and mood

    Source sentences

    Summary
    OXT changes (T0 - T12) inversely correlated with symptom improvement as changes in the Zanarini Rating Scale for borderline personality disorder (r = 0.387, p = 0.006) and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (r = 0.387, p = 0.005) scores during treatment.
    2 context sentences
    Summary · context
    Fifty BPD patients and 28 healthy controls (HC) participated in the study; patients were randomly assigned to two psychotherapeutic treatments: metacognitive interpersonal therapy and structured clinical management.
    Summary · context
    OXT was quantified by a radioimmunoassay technique.

    This result measures the body's own Oxytocin. Nobody was given the peptide. It is not evidence about taking it.

  5. 05HumanEndogenous levelObservational studyOther

    In adults, patients with borderline personality disorder had lower plasma oxytocin at baseline than healthy controls.

    In plain wordsIn adults, people with borderline personality disorder had lower levels of the body's own oxytocin than healthy people.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    DecreasePlasma OXT at baseline, BPD patients versus healthy controls
    Study

    n = 78

    Comparator
    Healthy controls
    Outcome group
    Endogenous peptide levels · Mental health and mood

    Source sentences

    Summary
    BPD patients showed lower plasma OXT at T0 than HC (p = 0.002)
    2 context sentences
    Summary · context
    Fifty BPD patients and 28 healthy controls (HC) participated in the study; patients were randomly assigned to two psychotherapeutic treatments: metacognitive interpersonal therapy and structured clinical management.
    Summary · context
    OXT was quantified by a radioimmunoassay technique.

    This result measures the body's own Oxytocin. Nobody was given the peptide. It is not evidence about taking it.

  6. 06HumanEndogenous levelObservational studyOther

    In patients with borderline personality disorder, lower plasma oxytocin correlated with higher Attachment Style Questionnaire preoccupation with relationships scores.

    In plain wordsIn people with borderline personality disorder, lower levels of the body's own oxytocin were linked to more preoccupation with relationships.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    Not applicableCorrelation of plasma OXT with ASQ-Preoccupation with Relationships score
    Study

    n: not reported in source

    Outcome group
    Endogenous peptide levels · Mental health and mood

    Source sentences

    Summary
    a correlation was observed (r = -0.36, p = 0.017) between low OXT concentrations and high Attachment Style Questionnaire - Italian Version-Preoccupation with Relationships subscale scores.
    2 context sentences
    Summary · context
    Fifty BPD patients and 28 healthy controls (HC) participated in the study; patients were randomly assigned to two psychotherapeutic treatments: metacognitive interpersonal therapy and structured clinical management.
    Summary · context
    OXT was quantified by a radioimmunoassay technique.

    This result measures the body's own Oxytocin. Nobody was given the peptide. It is not evidence about taking it.

AI wrote and checked these results. AI can make mistakes, so check important results against the source.

Version history

PepBank keeps every version of the data on this study. Status changes from Retraction Watch, Europe PMC and Crossref are listed with their source.

  1. Version 2Current

    11 Oct 2026, 00:50 UTC

    Study results updated

  2. Version 1

    9 Oct 2026, 02:48 UTC

    First added · source update from Europe PMC

Subjects

Terms as the source lists them.

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