Oxytocin, the love hormone, plays a role in specific nerve cells and neurons that project to the lower spinal cord and control erection and ejaculation.
- Through its receptors, oxytocin causes male sexual function in the lumbar spinal cord.
- This may lead to the development of treatments for male sexual dysfunction, researchers hope.
Oxytocin is considered the love hormone for its role in romantic and sexual emotions. The way in which it acts concretely in the male sexual mechanism is not yet well understood. A recent Japanese study, published on October 29 in the journal Current Biologyexplored the role of oxytocin and the underlying mechanisms in modulating sexual function.
Our endocrine system works like a wired network
Oxytocin-specific nerve cells or neurons in the brain that project to the lower spinal cord and control penile erection and ejaculation. The hormone is transferred from the brain to various parts of the body through the blood and from one neuron to another through structures called synapses. The precise mechanisms by which sparsely dispersed oxytocin fibers, the structures responsible for the oxytocin response in the central nervous system, cause activation of widely distributed receptors remain unclear. Researchers at Okayama University investigated a new non-synaptic mode of oxytocin transport through the central nervous system. Their research was done on rats.
Oxytocin is modulated by a hybrid system that acts in the central nervous system. “Overall, the endocrine system, which acts on distant organs spread via the circulation, resembles ‘broadcasting satellite’ communication, while synaptic transmission resembles wired ethernet”, describes Professor Hirotaka Sakamoto who led the study. As a result, localized volume transmission of peptides resembles ‘Wi-Fi’ communication as it is a hybrid of the endocrine (satellite) and synaptic (Ethernet) systems. It may be the predominant mechanism for oxytocinergic modulation of socio-sexual behavior and cognition throughout the central nervous system.”
Better treat male sexual dysfunction
It is known that the spine is the spinal ejaculation generator (SEG) and controls sexual functions. To assess the role of oxytocin in ejaculation, the researchers injected oxytocin into the spine of male rats. Oxytocin caused an increase in sexual activity and neuronal activity in injected animals. More specifically, oxytocin directly activated SEG neurons through their receptors that sense oxytocin and mediate male sexual function in the lumbar spinal cord. Conversely, when the researchers used an antagonist of oxytocin receptors, which reduces their activity, it resulted in latency and decreased numbers of sexual activity and ejaculatory responses in the majority of rats.
“Now that we have discovered a new neural mechanism – ‘localized volume transmission’ of oxytocin – involved in the control of male sexual function in the spinal cord, we can hope that this may lead to the development of treatments for sexual dysfunction. masculine”, hopes Professor Sakamoto.
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