Plasma Oxytocin Concentrations During and After Gestation in Japanese Pregnant Women Affected by Anxiety Disorder and Endometriosis

Toshio Masumoto; Kazunari Onishi; Tasuku Harada; Hiroki Amano; Shinji Otani; Youichi Kurozawa

doi:10.33160/yam.2020.11.012

Plasma Oxytocin Concentrations During and After Gestation in Japanese Pregnant Women Affected by Anxiety Disorder and Endometriosis

Yonago Acta Med. 2020 Nov 5;63(4):301-307. doi: 10.33160/yam.2020.11.012. eCollection 2020 Nov.

Authors

Toshio Masumoto¹, Kazunari Onishi², Tasuku Harada³, Hiroki Amano¹, Shinji Otani⁴, Youichi Kurozawa¹

Affiliations

¹ Division of Health Administration and Promotion, Department of Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, Yonago 683-8503, Japan.
² Division of Environmental Health Sciences, Graduate School of Public Health, St. Luke's International University, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
³ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Research Center for Bioscience and Technology, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, Yonago 683-8503, Japan.
⁴ International Platform for Dryland Research and Education, Tottori University, Tottori 680-0001, Japan.

Abstract

Background: Oxytocin has a key role in mother-infant bonding, maternal care, social interaction, and stress-related psychiatric disorders. However, the factors determining oxytocin concentrations during and after pregnancy such as medical history related to nursing or parental behavior are unknown. To elucidate these, we analyzed the relationships between oxytocin concentrations during and after pregnancy, and medical history assessed in the Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS).

Methods: We then selected the pregnant women with a medical history of anxiety disorder and endometriosis as cases and pregnant women without medical history as controls adjusting the cohort for age and parity for a nested case-control study, after which 162 women remained for analysis. We evaluated 162 pregnant women from JECS using answers provided in a questionnaire and by measuring plasma oxytocin concentration by ELISA during the first (T1) and second (T2) trimesters of pregnancy, and after childbirth (T3).

Results: Oxytocin concentration increased in a time dependent manner, consistent with previous reports. There were weak negative correlations between oxytocin concentration at T1 and the mother's age and height, but no correlation with other factors. The mean oxytocin concentrations of pregnant women with a history of an anxiety disorder (n = 7) and endometriosis (n = 13) were significantly lower than those of pregnant women with no such history at T2 and T3.

Conclusion: These results suggest that oxytocin concentrations during and after pregnancy were affected by a past history of anxiety disorder and endometriosis. This is the first study of the relationship between oxytocin concentration and endometriosis. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms, further study is needed.

Keywords: anxiety disorder; endometriosis; oxytocin.