Sex Differences in Metabolic Effects of Oxytocin

PRELIMINARY investigations in this laboratory showed that when synthetic oxytocin was administered intravenously to puerperal women at dosages between 10 mµ and 400 mµ/kg body-weight there occurred consistent increases in plasma non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) in association with delayed hypoglycæ...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 1964-02, Vol.201 (4921), p.829-830
Main Authors: BURT, RICHARD L, LEAKE, NORMAN H, DANNENBURG, WARREN N
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Blood Chemical Analysis
Blood Glucose
Dogs
Fatty Acids
Humanities and Social Sciences
letter
multidisciplinary
Old Medline
Oxytocin
Pharmacology
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Sex
Sex Characteristics
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:PRELIMINARY investigations in this laboratory showed that when synthetic oxytocin was administered intravenously to puerperal women at dosages between 10 mµ and 400 mµ/kg body-weight there occurred consistent increases in plasma non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) in association with delayed hypoglycæmia 1 . (The synthetic oxytocin (‘Syntocinon’) was kindly supplied by Dr. R. Bircher, medical director, Sandoz Pharmaceuticals, Hanover, New Jersey.) It was also shown that similar responses of NEFA and blood sugar follow oxytocin treatment in normal non-pregnant women without relation to pregnancy 2 . In the latter subjects the hypoglycæmia was attended by consistent and significant falls in plasma inorganic phosphorus in contrast to small irregular increases occurring in puerperal women. These differences in phosphorus responses suggested the possibility of different mechanisms for the hypoglycæmia, but in both categories of subjects the blood sugar decreases were characteristic.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/201829a0