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. 2019 Aug 1;104(8):3181-3191.
doi: 10.1210/jc.2018-02608.

Low Plasma Oxytocin Levels and Increased Psychopathology in Hypopituitary Men With Diabetes Insipidus

Anna Aulinas  1 , Franziska Plessow  1 , Elisa Asanza  1 , Lisseth Silva  1 , Dean A Marengi  1 , WuQiang Fan  1 , Parisa Abedi  1 , Joseph Verbalis  2 , Nicholas A Tritos  1 , Lisa Nachtigall  1 , Alexander T Faje  1 , Karen K Miller  1 , Elizabeth A Lawson  1
Affiliations

Low Plasma Oxytocin Levels and Increased Psychopathology in Hypopituitary Men With Diabetes Insipidus

Anna Aulinas et al. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. .

Abstract

Context: Oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin share anatomical pathways of synthesis and secretion, and patients with central diabetes insipidus (CDI) presumably are at risk for OT deficiency. However, an OT-deficient state in hypopituitary patients has not been established.

Objectives: We hypothesized that men with CDI compared to patients with similar anterior pituitary deficiencies (APD) but no CDI and healthy controls (HC) of similar age and body mass index, would have lower plasma OT levels, associated with increased psychopathology.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: Clinical research center.

Participants: Sixty-two men (20 CDI, 20 APD, 22 HC), age 18 to 60 years.

Interventions: Frequent sampling of blood every 5 minutes for OT over 1 hour and validated questionnaires to assess psychopathology.

Main outcomes: Pooled plasma OT levels; depressive, anxiety, and alexithymia symptoms; and quality of life.

Results: The mean 1-hour pool of fasting OT levels was lower in CDI compared with APD and HC (P = 0.02 and P = 0.009, respectively), with no differences between APD and HC (P = 0.78). Symptoms of depression, anxiety, and alexithymia were more pronounced in CDI than in HC (P = 0.001, P = 0.004, and P = 0.02, respectively). Although CDI and APD reported worse physical health compared with HC (P = 0.001 and P = 0.005) with no differences between APD and CDI, only CDI reported worse mental health compared with HC (P = 0.009).

Conclusions: We have demonstrated low plasma OT levels and increased psychopathology in hypopituitary men with CDI, suggestive of a possible OT-deficient state. Larger studies of both sexes are required to confirm these findings and clinically characterize hypopituitary patients with OT deficiency.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Measures of psychopathology across groups. Symptoms of depression, anxiety, and alexithymia were greater in CDI group than in HC group. Whiskers represent the SEM range.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Mean mental and physical health scores assessed using the SF-36 across the study groups. The CDI and APD groups reported worse physical health compared with the HC group, and only the CDI group reported worse mental health compared with the HC group. Whiskers represent the SEM range.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Mean 1-hour pool of fasting OT levels across groups. The 1-hour pool of fasting OT levels was lower in the CDI group compared with the APD and HC groups, and the levels between the APD and HC groups did not differ. Whiskers represent the SEM range.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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