title: Salivary vasopressin increases following intranasal oxytocin administration.
abstract: Extant research has documented the effects of intranasal administration of oxytocin (OT), and to a lesser degree Arginine Vasopressin (AVP) - two structurally-related neuropeptides - on brain and behaviour, yet the effects of exogenous manipulation of one on circulating levels of the other remain unknown. Studies have shown that OT administration impacts the peripheral levels of numerous hormones; however, whether OT administration also increases AVP concentrations has not been explored. Utilizing a double-blind placebo-controlled within-subject design, ten male and female subjects provided ten saliva samples over four consecutive hours: at baseline and nine times following OT administration. Results indicate that salivary AVP increased in the first hour following OT manipulation (OT condition: mean AVP=2.17 pg/ml, SE=28, placebo condition: mean AVP=1.42 pg/ml, SE=.18) but returned to baseline levels at the next assessment (80 min) and remained low for the remaining period. Similar to OT, AVP showed high degree of individual stability and baseline levels of AVP correlated with AVP concentrations at the first and second post-administration hours regardless of drug condition (Pearson r=.85-.93). Validity of salivary AVP ELISA measurement was verified by demonstrating individual stability of salivary AVP over a six-month period (r=.70, p<.000) as well correlation with plasma levels over the same period (r=.32, p=.037) in a sample of 45 young adults who did not participate in the current study. Overall, findings suggest a potential crosstalk between OT and AVP and indicate that baseline levels of the two neuropeptides may shape the degree to which these systems respond to exogenous manipulation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and the Gonda Brain Sciences Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel.
authors.forename: Omri
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Weisman
authors.forename: Inna
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Schneiderman
authors.forename: Orna
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Zagoory-Sharon
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Feldman
mesh_terms: D000281:Administration, Intranasal; D000328:Adult; D001127:Arginine Vasopressin / Q000378:metabolism*; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012463:Saliva / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001127:Arginine Vasopressin; D010121:Oxytocin