ArticleThe Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience2009
Evidence that oxytocin exerts anxiolytic effects via oxytocin receptor expressed in serotonergic neurons in mice.
Article in The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 298 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
298 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 610 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effect of intranasal oxytocin on neural response to facial emotions in healthy adults as measured by functional MRI: A systematic review.Psychiatry research. Neuroimaging · 2018Pooled it
- Oxytocinergic Modulation of Stress-Associated Amygdala-Hippocampus Pathways in Humans Is Mediated by Serotonergic Mechanisms.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2022Trial
- The positive effect of mother-performed infant massage on infantile eczema and maternal mental state: A randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in public health · 2022Trial
- Intranasal oxytocin decreases fear generalization in males, but does not modulate discrimination threshold.Psychopharmacology · 2021Trial
- The effect of intranasal oxytocin on visual processing and salience of human faces.Translational psychiatry · 2020Trial
- Oxytocin Reduces Alcohol Cue-Reactivity in Alcohol-Dependent Rats and Humans.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2018Trial
- Trial
- Oxytocin modulates hemodynamic responses to monetary incentives in humans.Psychopharmacology · 2016Trial
- Oxytocin receptor signaling contributes to the mitochondrial integrity and maintain gastric mucosal homeostasis in male mice.iScience · 2026Article
- Hypothalamic oxytocin neurons produce pro-anxiety effects through glutamatergic projections to the lateral hypothalamus.Cell discovery · 2026Article
- Article
- Genome editing-based refinement of GPCR visualization in mice using the oxytocin receptor as a model.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Oxytocin Modulation of Spinal Circuits Drives Therapeutic Benefits of Massage.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Article
- Hilar mossy cell oxytocin receptor signaling regulates adult hippocampal neurogenesis and context discrimination in mice.Journal of biomedical science · 2026Article
- Reduced plasma oxytocin levels in patients with open-angle glaucoma.Japanese journal of ophthalmology · 2026Article
- GPCR Heterodimers: Implications for Biased Signaling.Handbook of experimental pharmacology · 2026Review
- Oxytocin enhances neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity to attenuate age-related cognitive decline in aged mice.IBRO neuroscience reports · 2025Article
- Oxytocin Enhances Demethylation Through TET Enzyme Expression in Neurons of Aged Mice: Oxytocin as a Potential Antiaging Peptide.Aging cell · 2025Article
- The psychedelic-peptide paradox: a hormetic hypothesis.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2025Review
238 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The oxytocin receptor has been implicated in the regulation of reproductive physiology as well as social and emotional behaviors. The neurochemical mechanisms by which oxytocin receptor modulates social and emotional behavior remains elusive, in part because of a lack of sensitive and selective antibodies for cellular localization. To more precisely characterize oxytocin receptor-expressing neurons within the brain, we generated an oxytocin receptor-reporter mouse in which part of the oxytocin receptor gene was replaced with Venus cDNA (a variant of yellow fluorescent protein). Examination of the Venus expression revealed that, in the raphe nuclei, about one-half of tryptophan hydroxylase-immunoreactive neurons were positive for Venus, suggesting a potential role for oxytocin in the modulation of serotonin release. Oxytocin infusion facilitated serotonin release within the median raphe nucleus and reduced anxiety-related behavior. Infusion of a 5-HT(2A/2C) receptor antagonist blocked the anxiolytic effect of oxytocin, suggesting that oxytocin receptor activation in serotonergic neurons mediates the anxiolytic effects of oxytocin. This is the first demonstration that oxytocin may regulate serotonin release and exert anxiolytic effects via direct activation of oxytocin receptor expressed in serotonergic neurons of the raphe nuclei. These results also have important implications for psychiatric disorders such as autism and depression in which both the oxytocin and serotonin systems have been implicated.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.