2020 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 119-129
Oxytocin (OXT) is involved in not only parturition and the milk ejection reflex, but also various functions such as regulation of anti-nociception, anxiety, trust, bonding, social recognition, and maintenance of bone and skeletal muscle. We examined the age-related changes of OXT in the posterior pituitary (PP), the supraoptic nucleus (SON) and the paraventricular nucleus (PVN), using a transgenic rat line that expresses the oxytocin-monomeric red fluorescent protein 1 (mRFP1) fusion gene, and investigated the relations of OXT and aging in the hypothalamo-neurohypophysial system. For the future, understanding the association between OXT and aging will be important for developing interventions for sarcopenia and loneliness/social isolation among older adults. In this paper, we review the role of OXT in the context of age-related changes, social function and anti-nociception, and maintenance of bone and skeletal muscle.
