オキシトシン 2mg – ベリガス（国際）

有効成分 オキシトシン
パック 1バイアル×2mg

オキシトシンは、脳の底部にあるエンドウ豆大の構造である下垂体の後葉から分泌されるホルモンです。

It’s sometimes known as the “cuddle hormone” or the “love hormone,” because it is released when people snuggle up or bond socially. Even playing with your dog can cause an oxytocin surge, according to a 2009 study published in the journal Hormones and Behavior. But these monikers may be misleading.

オキシトシンは、男性が母親との関係が悪かった場合など、絆がうまくいかなかったときの記憶を強めることもあります。また、オキシトシンは、部外者とみなす人々を受け入れにくくすることもあります。言い換えれば、オキシトシンが他人を抱きしめたい気持ちにさせるか、疑念を抱かせるかは、環境によって決まるということです。

女性のオキシトシン

Oxytocin is a particularly important hormone for women. “Oxytocin is a peptide produced in the brain that was first recognized for its role in the birth process, and also in nursing,” said Larry Young, a behavioral neuroscientist at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

The hormone causes uterine contractions during labor and helps shrink the uterus after delivery. When an infant suckles at his or her mother’s breast, the stimulation causes a release of oxytocin, which, in turn, orders the body to “let down” milk for the baby to drink.

Oxytocin also promotes mother-child bonding. Studies show that “female rats find pups to be aversive if [the females are] virgins,” Young told Live Science. “But once they give birth, the brain is transformed, so they find the pups irresistible,” he said. And similar findings are seen in humans.

A 2007 study published in the journal Psychological Science found that the higher a mom’s oxytocin levels in the first trimester of pregnancy, the more likely she was to engage in bonding behaviors such as singing to or bathing her baby. [11 Interesting Effects of Oxytocin]

Although maternal bonding may not always be hardwired — after all, human females can adopt babies and take care of them — oxytocin released during pregnancy “does seem to have a role in motivation and feelings of connectedness to a baby,” Young said. Studies also show that interacting with a baby causes the infant’s own oxytocin levels to increase, he added.

男性のオキシトシン

In men, as in women, oxytocin facilitates bonding. Dads who got a boost of oxytocin via a nasal spray played more closely with their 5-month-old babies than dads who didn’t get the hormone zap, a 2012 study found. (There is another hormone, called vasopressin, which plays a stronger role in men.)

This anti-social effect of a social hormone brings some nuance to the story of oxytocin. In one study, researchers found that Dutch students given a snort of the hormone became more positive about fictional Dutch characters, but were more negative about characters with Arab or German names. The finding suggests that oxytocin’s social bonding effects are targeted at whomever a person perceives as part of their in-group, the researchers reported in January 2011 in the journal PNAS.

2010年にPNASで発表された別の研究では、男性にオキシトシンを投与し、母親について書くように依頼した。安定した関係にある男性は、ホルモン投与後、母親はより思いやりがあると述べた。一方、問題のある関係にある男性は、母親は思いやりが薄れたと感じた。研究者によると、このホルモンは社会的記憶の形成を助ける可能性があり、そのため、匂いを嗅ぐと、良いか悪いかにかかわらず、以前のつながりが強化される。

“My view of what oxytocin is doing in the brain is making social information more salient,” Young said. “It connects brain areas involved in processing social information — whether it’s sights, faces, sounds or smells — and helps link those areas to the brain’s reward system.”

オキシトシンスプレーと副作用

Oxytocin nose sprays also have been considered for use in treating autism. The neurological disorder is marked by struggles with social functioning, so a small 2013 study published in the journal PNAS gave a dose to children and teens with autism and asked the participants to identify emotions based on pictures of people’s eyes.

The participants weren’t any better at identifying the emotions after the oxytocin burst, but the regions of their brains associated with social interaction became more active. The increased processing could mean that a burst of oxytocin might help cement behavioral therapy for kids with the disorder.

“When you think about using oxytocin to treat diseases like autism, you want to make sure you do it in a context where the social information is positive,” Young said.

しかし、医療目的以外でのオキシトシン スプレーの使用は、はるかに曖昧です。処方箋なしでオンラインで販売されているスプレーは、ストレス解消や社交の場の安らぎを約束していますが、食品医薬品局 (FDA) によって規制されていません。つまり、その効能、副作用、さらにはオキシトシンが含まれているかどうかさえも、何もわかっていないのです。

ホルモン研究で使用されている合法的なオキシトシン スプレーの副作用に関する長期研究は行われておらず、ほとんどの研究では被験者にホルモンを 1 回投与するだけです。陣痛を促進するために静脈注射で投与されるオキシトシンの合成バージョンであるピトシンには、吐き気、嘔吐、胃痛などの副作用があります。