How does oxytocin behave under stress? | Oxytocin

How does oxytocin behave under stress?

Stress leads to an alarm reaction of the body, it prepares itself for an argument in the form of fight or flight. For this purpose e.g. : Oxytocin partially has opposite effects. It is therefore an important regulator of stress and can help to contain it.

Oxytocin is often released in stressful situations in healthy people. It is assumed that this is done to keep the stress reaction under control. In the human body, most reactions are accompanied by a counter-reaction to prevent excessive effects.

Oxytocin is a part of this counter-reaction to stress. However, its effect is often not sufficient to stop the stress reaction completely.

• The blood pressure increased,
• The heart beats faster and
• The release of the stress hormones cortisol, adrenalin and noradrenalin increases.
• It can lower blood pressure and the release of cortisol.
• It also has effects on an area of the brain called the amygdala (corpus amygamygdaloideum), which plays an important role in the development of anxiety. Thus, oxytocin has psychological effects, it has calming and anxiety-relieving effects.

What is the antagonist of oxytocin?

Antagonists are substances that cancel out the effect of another substance (the agonist) or cause an opposite reaction. In women, oxytocin is used, for example, in delayed childbirth to trigger and support contractions. However, if contractions occur too early, tocolytics can be administered.

One of these substances is atosiban, which docks to the same receptor as oxytocin but blocks it (competitive antagonist). This prevents the oxytocin effect from developing in the body. Substances similar to the stress hormone adrenaline (beta-sympathomimetics) also have an inhibitory effect on the contraction of the uterus (uterine contraction).

However, they do not act on the same receptor as oxytocin, which is why they are called functional antagonists. The stress hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline also counteract some other effects of oxytocin, e.g. they activate rather than calm. In some areas, however, they act similarly to oxytocin (synergistically), e.g. during orgasm.

They are therefore not antagonists of all the effects of oxytocin. Substances similar to the stress hormone adrenaline (beta-sympathomimetics) also have an inhibitory effect on uterine contraction. However, they do not act on the same receptor as oxytocin, which is why they are called functional antagonists.The stress hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline also counteract some other effects of oxytocin, e.g. they activate rather than calm.

In some areas, however, they act similarly to oxytocin (synergistically), e.g. during orgasm. They are therefore not antagonists of all the effects of oxytocin.