Oxytocin
Definition
A nine-residue hypothalamic peptide released from the posterior pituitary, involved in uterine contraction, milk ejection and a range of social behaviours studied in animal models. It is one of the few peptides with a substantial body of work in the literature using an intranasal route.
Terms used in this definition
Other entries this definition refers to.
Where this term comes up
Entries whose definition mentions Oxytocin.
What this means for research sourcing
Mechanistic terms like this describe how research compounds behave in vitro. See the mechanism overviews for compounds Volta stocks.
Related Terms in Pharmacology
Vasopressin
A nine-residue posterior-pituitary peptide, also called antidiuretic hormone, that governs water retention by the kidney and raises vascular tone. It differs from oxytocin at two residues, which is a standard illustration of how much a single substitution changes.
Melanocortin Receptor
A family of five G protein-coupled receptors, MC1R through MC5R, covering pigmentation, sexual function, appetite and inflammation. Which subtype a compound prefers is what distinguishes the melanocortin peptides from one another.
PepT1 Transporter
The proton-coupled transporter SLC15A1 in the intestinal epithelium, which carries di- and tripeptides across intact. It is the one established route by which a very short oral peptide can be absorbed without being broken down first; longer chains cannot use it.
Gastric Emptying
How fast stomach contents pass into the small intestine. GLP-1 and amylin signalling slow it, which blunts post-meal glucose rises and prolongs fullness, and which also accounts for much of the nausea recorded in incretin trials.
Satiety
The state of fullness that ends a meal and delays the next one, as distinct from the absence of hunger. Appetite-acting peptides are generally described in trials as increasing satiety rather than as suppressing hunger.
Nootropic
A label for a compound studied for effects on memory, attention or neuroprotection. It names an area of investigation rather than an established property, and in peptide work the evidence behind it is mostly rodent studies of BDNF and CREB signalling.
Body Composition
How body weight divides between fat mass and fat-free mass. Two interventions can produce the same change in total weight with very different composition behind it, which is why studies increasingly report the split rather than the total alone.
Lean Body Mass
Everything in the body that is not fat: muscle, bone, organs and water. Studies report it beside total weight because a substantial reduction in body weight from any cause takes some of it along.