ArticleCurrent biology : CB2021
Oxytocin Influences Male Sexual Activity via Non-synaptic Axonal Release in the Spinal Cord.
Article in Current biology : CB, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers.
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Who cites it
40 citing papers in PubMed, 60 citations in OpenAlex.
- Targeting the neuro-immune axis: immunological mechanisms and therapeutic strategies in male sexual dysfunction.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2026Review
- Multi-transmitter characteristics and functional specialization of oxytocin neuron subpopulations in zebrafish.The Journal of experimental biology · 2026Article
- Sex differences in neuromodulatory subcortical systems and their implications for Alzheimer's disease.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Review
- A spatial and projection-based transcriptomic atlas of paraventricular hypothalamic cell types.Cell reports · 2026Article
- A spatial and projection-based transcriptomic atlas of paraventricular hypothalamic cell types.Research square · 2025Article
- A galanin-positive population of lumbar spinal cord neurons modulates sexual arousal and copulatory behavior in male mice.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Oxytocin facilitates human touch-induced play behavior in rats.Current biology : CB · 2025Article
- Targeting the central and peripheral nervous system to regulate bone homeostasis: mechanisms and potential therapies.Military Medical Research · 2025Review
- Reduction of Prostate Cancer Risk: Role of Frequent Ejaculation-Associated Mechanisms.Cancers · 2025Review
- The central oxytocinergic system of the prairie vole.Brain structure & function · 2024Article
- Neural cell-types and circuits linking thermoregulation and social behavior.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2024Review
- Membrane-Targeted palGFP Predominantly Localizes to the Plasma Membrane but not to Neurosecretory Vesicle Membranes in Rat Oxytocin Neurons.Acta histochemica et cytochemica · 2024Article
- Adenosine signaling: a potential therapeutic target for psychogenic erectile dysfunction.American journal of translational research · 2024Review
- Alzheimer's disease increases the risk of erectile dysfunction independent of cardiovascular diseases: A mendelian randomization study.PloS one · 2024Article
- Detection, processing and reinforcement of social cues: regulation by the oxytocin system.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2023Review
- Therapeutic uses of oxytocin in stress-related neuropsychiatric disorders.Cell & bioscience · 2023Review
- A genetically encoded sensor measures temporal oxytocin release from different neuronal compartments.Nature biotechnology · 2023Article
- Review
- An AAV-CRISPR/Cas9 strategy for gene editing across divergent rodent species: Targeting neural oxytocin receptors as a proof of concept.Science advances · 2023Article
- Does activation of oxytocinergic reward circuits postpone the decline of the aging brain?Frontiers in psychology · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 5 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Oxytocinergic neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus that project to extrahypothalamic brain areas and the lumbar spinal cord play an important role in the control of erectile function and male sexual behavior in mammals. The gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) system in the lumbosacral spinal cord is an important component of the neural circuits that control penile reflexes in rats, circuits that are commonly referred to as the "spinal ejaculation generator (SEG)." We have examined the functional interaction between the SEG neurons and the hypothalamo-spinal oxytocin system in rats. Here, we show that SEG/GRP neurons express oxytocin receptors and are activated by oxytocin during male sexual behavior. Intrathecal injection of oxytocin receptor antagonist not only attenuates ejaculation but also affects pre-ejaculatory behavior during normal sexual activity. Electron microscopy of potassium-stimulated acute slices of the lumbar cord showed that oxytocin-neurophysin-immunoreactivity was detected in large numbers of neurosecretory dense-cored vesicles, many of which are located close to the plasmalemma of axonal varicosities in which no electron-lucent microvesicles or synaptic membrane thickenings were visible. These results suggested that, in rats, release of oxytocin in the lumbar spinal cord is not limited to conventional synapses but occurs by exocytosis of the dense-cored vesicles from axonal varicosities and acts by diffusion-a localized volume transmission-to reach oxytocin receptors on GRP neurons and facilitate male sexual function.
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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.