ArticleeLife2020
Salivary and plasmatic oxytocin are not reliable trait markers of the physiology of the oxytocin system in humans.
Article in eLife, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
50 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 90 citations in OpenAlex.
- Music's context-dependent influence on oxytocin, social bonding, and emotion regulation: a systematic review.Frontiers in cognition · 2025Pooled it
- The oxytocin system in patients with craniopharyngioma: A systematic review.Frontiers in neuroendocrinology · 2025Pooled it
- Alcohol does not influence trust in others or oxytocin, but increases positive affect and risk-taking: a randomized, controlled, within-subject trial.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2024Trial
- Temporal profile of intranasal oxytocin in the human autonomic nervous system at rest: An electrocardiography and pupillometry study.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2023Trial
- Genetic and epigenetic signatures associated with plasma oxytocin levels in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2023Trial
- Evaluating hormonal levels in plasma and saliva as temperament indicators in horses.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Resting-state brain function and its modulation by intranasal oxytocin in antisocial personality disorder with and without psychopathy.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Circuit logic of oxytocin and vasopressin complementary actions.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
- 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
- Trait-Like and State-Like Oxytocin: A Biomarker of Alliance in Patients with Depression and Borderline Personality Disorder.Psychotherapy and psychosomatics · 2025Article
- Increased salivary oxytocin correlates with lower self-reported interoceptive accuracy in functional neurological disorders.Neurobiology of stress · 2025Article
- Neuropeptides, Altruism, and Adverse Childhood Experiences: Investigating Biological and Behavioral Correlations in Medical Students.Brain sciences · 2025Article
- Altered association of plasmatic oxytocin with affective stress response in alcohol use disorder.Translational psychiatry · 2025Article
- Salivary Oxytocin Levels in Children With and Without Autism: Group Similarities and Subgroup Variability.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Circadian Variation of Salivary Oxytocin in Young Adult Women.Psychophysiology · 2025Article
- The Oxytocin System and Implications for Oxytocin Deficiency in Hypothalamic-Pituitary Disease.Endocrine reviews · 2025Review
- Navigating Central Oxytocin Transport: Known Realms and Uncharted Territories.The Neuroscientist : a review journal bringing neurobiology, neurology and psychiatry · 2025Review
- Salivary hormones in depression: the future in diagnosis and treatment.Annals of general psychiatry · 2025Review
- Eating behavior patterns, metabolic parameters and circulating oxytocin levels in patients with obesity: an exploratory study.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2025Observational
- Salivary oxytocin and amygdalar alterations in functional neurological disorders.Brain communications · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Single measurements of salivary and plasmatic oxytocin are used as indicators of the physiology of the oxytocin system. However, questions remain about whether they are sufficiently stable to provide valid trait markers of the physiology of the oxytocin system, and whether salivary oxytocin can accurately index its plasmatic concentrations. Using radioimmunoassay, we measured baseline plasmatic and/or salivary oxytocin from two independent datasets. We also administered exogenous oxytocin intravenously and intranasally in a triple dummy, within-subject, placebo-controlled design and compared baseline levels and the effects of routes of administration. Our findings question the use of single measurements of baseline oxytocin concentrations in saliva and plasma as valid trait markers of the physiology of the oxytocin system in humans. Salivary oxytocin is a weak surrogate for plasmatic oxytocin. The increases in salivary oxytocin observed after intranasal oxytocin most likely reflect unabsorbed peptide and should not be used to predict treatment effects.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.