Research Alternative to the love hormone Oxytocin facilitates the birth

Alternative to Oxytocin: New chemical compound to facilitate childbirth

The active substance oxytocin is used among other things in pregnant women to initiate the birth or to increase or stimulate the contractions during childbirth. But the substance often has serious side effects. An international research team has now developed a side effect less alternative to the "love hormone" oxytocin.

New chemical compound acts similar to the "love hormone" oxytocin

Markus Muttenthaler from the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Vienna has teamed up with an international research team to develop a new chemical compound that works in a similar way to the "love hormone" oxytocin, but is safer and less harmful in its use. This compound has the potential to be used in the future for a variety of studies and therapeutic applications, where the oxytocin receptor plays a role, it says in a statement from the university. The study has now been published in the journal Science Signaling.

Among other things, the "love hormone" oxytocin helps to facilitate the birth of a child. However, medical use is often associated with undesirable side effects. Researchers have now developed a side effect less alternative to the hormone. (Image: Friday / fotolia.com)

Cuddly hormone with multiple effects

Oxytocin, also called "cuddle" or "bonding hormone", plays a major role in childbirth. Among other things, the active substance is approved for the birth of pregnant women.

In addition, the "love hormone" that is formed in the brain regulates processes such as mother-child attachment and is also responsible for breastfeeding.

It helps to manage fears and also influences the behavior between partners and, more generally, social interactions by making them more capable of bonding and calming down.

But the hormone can do a lot more: scientific research has shown that ocytocin could help with muscle wasting and anorexia.

And it relieves pain, as researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg found in a study.

Not least, scientific research has shown that oxytocin can reduce sexual aversion in women. According to Austrian scientists, women and men benefit from this.

However, the use of oxytocin is often associated with side effects such as arrhythmia, too fast or too slow heartbeat, increased blood pressure, headache, nausea and vomiting.

Hormones regulate many important physiological functions

Oxytocin and vasopressin are peptide hormones that regulate many important physiological functions in humans, such as reproduction, cardiovascular, social behavior and learning, according to the Vienna University Communication.

Both hormones act via four receptors that are structurally very similar. In various (disease) cases, these receptors are promising targets for drug development.

For example, activation of the oxytocin receptor may result in improvements in the social behavior of autistic children, reduce pain in migraine and chronic bowel problems, or facilitate the birth of a child.

Activation of a vasopressin receptor inhibits water secretions and is used in diabetes insipidus. Another vasopressin receptor, in turn, is a target for cardiovascular problems because it is involved in the contraction of blood vessels.

Medical development of effective substances is progressing slowly

Although there are many medical applications for these signaling systems, the medical development of active substances is slow.

One major reason for this is the difficulty of making selective compounds that activate only one of the four receptors to eliminate unwanted side effects.

Another problem is that the selectivity of such compounds is often only found in animals, but not in humans.

Therapeutic use to facilitate childbirth

The Austrian medical chemist Markus Muttenthaler from the University of Vienna has addressed this problem and prepared a new approach oxytocin receptor-selective compounds that maintain selectivity in animals and in humans.

In his study, he investigated the therapeutic use in the clinical use of oxytocin to facilitate labor.

For example, oxytocin may cause side effects for the mother and child, if they are too high in dose or too long to use, and they are related to activation of the vasopressin receptor V1a.

Muttenthaler's newly developed compound was able to enhance the contractions of the uterus in much the same way as with oxytocin, but in a much more regulated way.

In addition, the new compound - [Se-Se] oxytocin-OH - did not result in activation of myocardial cells, improving safety in use. (Ad)