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Study · Measured the body's own peptide · 2025

3 results

Melatonin as a Possible Stimulus to Unmask an Oxytocin-Deficient State in Hypopituitarism and Hypothalamic Damage.

Asla Q, Garrido M, Urgell E, Terzan S, Santos A, Varghese N, Atila C, Biagetti B, Plessow F, Christ-Crain M, Eckert A, Webb SM, Lawson EA, Aulinas A

The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism1 Nov 2025Cited by 8 (Europe PMC)

PMID40166823 (opens in a new tab)PMCIDPMC12623053 (opens in a new tab)DOI10.1210/clinem/dgaf201 (opens in a new tab)PepBankPUB-40166823
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Summary

The text of this summary is not shown here, because the article license does not allow reuse. Read it at the source (opens in a new tab)

Text rights: CC BY-NC-ND. Results still quote short attributed sentences.

Results from this study3

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

Natural levels measured3

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 levelNon-randomized trialOther

    In adults, melatonin increased plasma oxytocin more in healthy controls than in patients with hypopituitarism and hypothalamic damage at 90 minutes.

    In plain wordsIn adults, melatonin raised the body's own oxytocin more in healthy people than in people with hypopituitarism or hypothalamic damage.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    IncreasePlasma OXT response to melatonin at T90 versus T0
    Study

    n = 40

    Comparator
    Healthy controls versus hypopituitarism and hypothalamic damage group
    Analysis
    Primary
    Outcome group
    Endogenous peptide levels · Endocrine and hormones

    Measurements

    difference in OXT change
    14.57 pg/mL
    healthy controls vs HHD, T90 vs T0

    Source sentences

    Summary
    MEL significantly increased OXT at T90 vs T0 in HCs compared to the HHD group (difference 14.57 pg/mL 26% increase; 95% CI, 1.90-27.23; P = .02).
    2 context sentences
    Summary · context
    This proof-of-concept study (NCT05319301) included 20 participants with HHD (11 women) and 20 HCs (11 women).
    Summary · context
    Blood samples were collected over 120 minutes to assess plasma OXT.

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

  2. 02HumanEndogenous levelNon-randomized trialOther

    In patients with hypopituitarism and hypothalamic damage and in healthy controls, the percentage change in oxytocin after melatonin was negatively associated with anxiety.

    In plain wordsIn both patients and healthy people, a smaller rise in the body's own oxytocin was linked to more anxiety.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    Not applicableAssociation of OXT change with anxiety
    Study

    n = 40

    Outcome group
    Endogenous peptide levels · Endocrine and hormones

    Source sentences

    Summary
    The mean percentage change in OXT from T0 to T90 was negatively associated with depressive and alexithymia symptoms in the HHD group and anxiety in both groups.
    2 context sentences
    Summary · context
    This proof-of-concept study (NCT05319301) included 20 participants with HHD (11 women) and 20 HCs (11 women).
    Summary · context
    Blood samples were collected over 120 minutes to assess plasma OXT.

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

  3. 03HumanEndogenous levelNon-randomized trialOther

    In patients with hypopituitarism and hypothalamic damage, the percentage change in oxytocin after melatonin was negatively associated with depressive and alexithymia symptoms.

    In plain wordsIn people with hypopituitarism or hypothalamic damage, a smaller rise in the body's own oxytocin was linked to more depression and alexithymia symptoms.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    Not applicableAssociation of OXT change with depression and alexithymia in HHD
    Study

    n = 20

    Outcome group
    Endogenous peptide levels · Endocrine and hormones

    Source sentences

    Summary
    The mean percentage change in OXT from T0 to T90 was negatively associated with depressive and alexithymia symptoms in the HHD group
    2 context sentences
    Summary · context
    This proof-of-concept study (NCT05319301) included 20 participants with HHD (11 women) and 20 HCs (11 women).
    Summary · context
    Blood samples were collected over 120 minutes to assess plasma OXT.

    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, 02:47 UTC

    First added · source update from Europe PMC

Subjects

Terms as the source lists them.

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