ArticlePsychosomatic medicine2011
Evaluation of enzyme immunoassay and radioimmunoassay methods for the measurement of plasma oxytocin.
Article in Psychosomatic medicine, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 160 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
160 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 327 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Maternal plasma levels of oxytocin during physiological childbirth - a systematic review with implications for uterine contractions and central actions of oxytocin.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2019Pooled it
- Endogenous oxytocin and human social interactions: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Psychological bulletinPooled it
- Plasma pharmacokinetics of intravenous and intranasal oxytocin in nonpregnant adults.British journal of anaesthesia · 2025Trial
- Oxytocin modulates local topography of human functional connectome in healthy men at rest.Communications biology · 2021Trial
- Trial
- Null results of oxytocin and vasopressin administration across a range of social cognitive and behavioral paradigms: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2019Trial
- The Effects of Lithium Carbonate Supplemented with Nitrazepam on Sleep Disturbance during Cannabis Abstinence.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2015Trial
- An Exploratory Study of the Effects of Mind-Body Interventions Targeting Sleep on Salivary Oxytocin Levels in Cancer Survivors.Integrative cancer therapies · 2015Trial
- Lithium carbonate in the management of cannabis withdrawal: a randomized placebo-controlled trial in an inpatient setting.Psychopharmacology · 2014Trial
- Plasma oxytocin changes and anti-obsessive response during serotonin reuptake inhibitor treatment: a placebo controlled study.BMC psychiatry · 2013Trial
- Effects of couple interactions and relationship quality on plasma oxytocin and cardiovascular reactivity: empirical findings and methodological considerations.International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology · 2013Trial
- A Preliminary Examination of Endogenous Peripheral Oxytocin in a Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial of Oxytocin-Enhanced Psychotherapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.Journal of clinical psychopharmacologyTrial
- The role of plasma oxytocin in early-onset schizophrenia: implications for disease severity and early intervention.BMC psychiatry · 2026Article
- Article
- Absence of detectable circadian rhythmicity of neurophysin I, a surrogate marker for oxytocin.Pituitary · 2026Article
- Significance of neuroendocrine systems and the gut-brain axis (GBA) in the regulation of obesity.PeerJ · 2026Review
- A new two-hit animal model for schizophrenia research: Consequences on social behavior.IBRO neuroscience reports · 2025Article
- Oxytocin: a neglected hormone in pituitary disease - From function to the diagnosis of a deficiency, resulting clinical relevance, and potential treatment options in endocrinology.Archives of endocrinology and metabolism · 2025Review
- Oxytocin Deficiency in Childhood and Adolescence: Clinical Features, Diagnostic Challenges and Therapeutic Perspectives.Current issues in molecular biology · 2025Review
100 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThere is increased interest in measuring peripheral oxytocin levels to better understand the role of this peptide in mammalian behavior, physiology, and disease. The purpose of this study was to compare methods for plasma oxytocin measurement using a commercially available enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and radioimmunoassay (RIA), to evaluate the need for sample extraction, and to assess the immunospecificity of the assays.
methodsOxytocin was measured in extracted and unextracted human plasma samples (n = 39). Oxytocin and its degradation products were separated by high-performance liquid chromatography and gel filtration chromatography and then assayed by EIA or RIA to identify oxytocin immunoreactive peaks.
resultsWithout extraction, plasma measured by EIA was more than 100-fold higher than in extracted plasma, and the correlation between oxytocin levels in extracted and unextracted plasma was minimal (Spearman ρ = -0.10, p = .54). Using the RIA, most samples (>90%) were below the level of detection with or without extraction. After chromatographic fractionation of sample extracts, multiple immunoreactive products were found to be present in addition to oxytocin, which casts doubts on the specificity of the assays.
conclusionsChanges in oxytocin levels have been reported in social and behavioral challenge studies. This study indicates that sample extraction is necessary to obtain valid assay results. Changes in oxytocin degradation products are likely to contribute to the previously observed responses in circulating oxytocin levels to behavioral and social challenge. There is a critical need for valid and reliable methods to measure oxytocin in biologic samples.
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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.