Called the hormone of love and trust, oxytocin is essential for the proper functioning and regeneration of muscles, according to the journal Nature Communications.
According to scientists at the University of California at Berkeley, this discovery could help develop new drugs, including for people suffering from sarcopenia (a complex of symptoms related to the loss of strength and muscle mass).
Oxytocin is a hormone that influences i.a. creates a bond between parents and the child, increases trust, and has a purely biological function – it helps to induce contractions during childbirth and stimulates the secretion of milk by a nursing mother.
Most of the molecules that support tissue regeneration are also linked to cancer, which limits their applicability to humans. Our goal was to find a compound that not only rejuvenates the muscles, but can also be used long-term without increasing the risk of cancer, says Irina Conboy, the author of the study.
Oxytocin has this potential because it acts on all organs and does not increase the risk of cancer and does not affect the immune system. It is not known exactly at what age oxytocin levels begin to decline in humans and what levels are needed to maintain muscle tissue health.
In the examined rodents, the level of this hormone decreased with age. The cells of the muscle tissue of older mice had fewer oxytocin receptors than younger mice.
The researchers gave the mice oxytocin injections for four days, and then for another five days after the muscle was damaged. It was then observed that the muscles of these rodents regenerate much faster than in the control group. Moreover, this effect was much more pronounced in the group of older mice. Oxytocin did not induce significant acceleration in juveniles. However, blocking the action of this hormone in young rodents caused a significant deterioration in tissue regeneration (they began to resemble the tissues of older mice then).
The next stage of the research was the observation of mice in which the gene responsible for secreting oxytocin was turned off. It turned out that rodents started showing signs of premature aging before they even reached adulthood (PAP).
See also: Nasal spray for anxiety and depression