title: Adjunctive intranasal oxytocin reduces symptoms in schizophrenia patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Both human and animal studies suggest oxytocin may have antipsychotic properties. Therefore, we conducted a clinical trial to directly test this notion.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nineteen schizophrenia patients with residual symptoms despite being on a stable dose of at least one antipsychotic were enrolled in a randomized, double-blind, crossover study. They received 3 weeks of daily intranasal oxytocin (titrated to 40 IU twice a day) and placebo adjunctive to their antipsychotics. Order of intranasal treatment was randomly assigned and there was a 1-week washout between treatments.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Analysis of the 15 subjects who completed all the study visits revealed that oxytocin significantly reduced scores on the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (p < .001) and Clinical Global Impression-Improvement Scale (p < .001) compared with placebo at the 3-week end point. No benefit was seen at the early time points. Oxytocin was well tolerated and produced no adverse effects based upon patient reports or laboratory analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results support the hypothesis that oxytocin has antipsychotic properties and is well tolerated. Higher doses and longer duration of treatment may produce larger benefits and should be evaluated in future studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego Medical Center, San Diego, California 92103-8218, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Feifel
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Macdonald
authors.forename: Angel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Patrice
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cobb
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Warlan
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Galangue
authors.forename: Arpi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Minassian
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Perry
authors.forename: Mischelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lefebvre
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gonzales
authors.forename: Allison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hadley
mesh_terms: D000281:Administration, Intranasal; D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D010121:Oxytocin