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Mini Review Volume 13 Issue 3
Oxytocin: a potential promoter of unhealthy eating habits
Ritu Gupta
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Department of Nutrition, Priti medical research and charitable trust, India
Correspondence: Ritu Gupta, Department of Nutrition, Priti medical research and charitable trust, India
Received: July 15, 2023 | Published: August 1, 2023
Citation: Gupta R. Oxytocin: a potential promoter of unhealthy eating habits. Adv Obes Weight Manag Control. 2023;13(3):74-75. DOI: 10.15406/aowmc.2023.13.00396
Introduction
Food is a vastly cultural and religion driven commodity depending on additional factors such as availability, production as well as environmental factors. Years of consumption of a homogenous kind of food can lead to genetic and epigenetic changes which allow individuals to respond differently to the food they consume. It is safe to assume that good nutrition is good for everybody but how a particular diet affects an individual also depends on individual genetic factors and the internal milieu of our bodies. Same food might cause unwanted physical changes in a person but might not have the same effect on the other person. Same food may also affect two different individuals differently nutritionally. One factor which has profound implications on food consumption is the hormone oxytocin which works primarily through the gut-brain-axis to affect eating habits.
The gut brain microbiota axis
The gut brain axis is a multidirectional communication system linking the emotional and cognitive centers of the brain with the human gut and its microbiota.1 Insights into the gut-brain relationship has revealed a vast network of nerves that not only ensure the proper functioning of gestational organs but also has varying effects on the human brain. The brain and the gut are connected by a single long running nerve called the vagus nerve.2 The Gut-Brain axis is often referred to as the gut-brain-microbiota axis due to the influential impact of the gut microbes in the digestive and cognitive processes of the human body. There has been compelling evidence that this relationship can be exploited to treat certain medical conditions that arise from the brain such as Parkinson’s disease by altering the diet.3
Oxytocin
Oxytocin is a hormone and neurotransmitter produced by the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus and released by the posterior pituitary. This hormone is responsible for the feelings of maternal bonding, kinship and love. This hormone is also responsible for reducing food intake in both human and animal models and can prove to be a potential treatment of obesity. In rat models it is proven that pharmacological injection of oxytocin into the brain can reduce food intake and the administration of an oxytocin receptor antagonist has just the opposite effect.4,5 In addition to this move devoid of oxytocin receptors show increased food intake related behaviors during the nocturnal cycle.6 Peripheral administration of oxytocin hormone does not assist the perceived levels of hunger or satiate hunger in a food deprivation discrimination in rats, in spite of reducing intake in both food restricted and non-restricted states.7
Low oxytocin levels have often been linked to conditions such as autism, depression and bigger appetite for oxygen rich foods. This suggests that there is more to eating habits than hunger. Low oxygen levels can arise from a number of conditions such as improper development of the hypothalamus, lack in the number of oxygen receptors or genetic conditions.
Conclusion
An individual is not solely responsible for their consumption habits. Looking down on an individual or blaming them for their food habits is an unnecessary and illogical response to unhealthy eating habits and can often have adverse effects. If a person is suffering through unhealthy eating habits it is necessary to consult a doctor and proceed with a thorough investigation before adhering to extreme measures. It is evident that further research in the area is mandatory but it is also necessary for individuals to be familiar with the existing literature on the topic both doctors and patients alike.
Acknowledgments
None.
Conflicts of interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding the research and findings presented.
References
- Carabotti M. The gut-brain axis: interactions between enteric microbiota, central and enteric nervous systems. Ann Gastroenternol. 2015;28(2):203–209.
- Breit S, Kupferberg A, Rogler G, et al. Vagus nerve as modulator of the brain-gut axis in psychiatric and inflammatory disorders. Front psychiatry. 2018;9:44.
- Klann EM, Dissanayake U, Gurrala A, Farrer, et al. The gut–brain axis and its relation to parkinson’s disease: A Review. Front Aging Neurosci. 2022;13:782082.
- Blevins JE, Thompson BW, Anekonda VT, et al. Chronic CNS oxytocin signaling preferentially induces fat loss in high-fat diet-fed rats by enhancing satiety responses and increasing lipid utilization. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2016;310(7):R640–R658.
- Herisson FM, Waas JR, Fredriksson R, et al. Oxytocin acting in the nucleus accumbens core decreases food intake. J Neuroendocrinol. 2016;28(4).
- Yamashita M, Takayanagi Y, Yoshida M, et al. Involvement of prolactin-releasing peptide in the activation of oxytocin neurones in response to food intake. J Neuroendocrinol. 2013;25(5):455–465.
- Head MA, Jewett DC, Gartner SN, et al. Effect of oxytocin on hunger discrimination. Front Endocrinol (Laussane). 2019;10:297.
©2023 Gupta. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially.