Oxytocin and cardioprotection in diabetes and obesity

Abstract

Oxytocin (OT) emerges as a drug for the treatment of diabetes and obesity. The entire OT system is synthesized in the rat and human heart. The direct myocardial infusion with OT into an ischemic or failing heart has the potential to elicit a variety of cardioprotective effects. OT treatment attenuates cardiomyocyte (CMs) death induced by ischemia-reperfusion by activating pro-survival pathways within injured CMs in vivo and in isolated cells. OT treatment reduces cardiac apoptosis, fibrosis, and hypertrophy. The OT/OT receptor (OTR) system is downregulated in the db/db mouse model of type 2 diabetes which develops genetic diabetic cardiomyopathy (DC) similar to human disease. We have shown that chronic OT treatment prevents the development of DC in the db/db mouse. In addition, OT stimulates glucose uptake in both cardiac stem cells and CMs, and increases cell resistance to diabetic conditions. OT may help replace lost CMs by stimulating the in situ differentiation of cardiac stem cells into functional mature CMs. Lastly, adult stem cells amenable for transplantation such as MSCs could be preconditioned with OT ex vivo and implanted into the injured heart to aid in tissue regeneration through direct differentiation, secretion of protective and cardiomyogenic factors and/or their fusion with injured CMs.

Influence of the Type of Delivery, Use of Oxytocin, and Maternal Age on POU5F1 Gene Expression in Stem Cells Derived from Wharton’s Jelly within the Umbilical Cord

“…Oxytocin is used in regenerative medicine because of its beneficial characteristics, which improve vascular and metabolic functions and are shown to be cardioprotective in obesity and diabetes [22,26,39,40]. Studies show that oxytocin has anti-inflammatory activity, increases stem cell resistance to oxidative stress, and promotes migration, proliferation, and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells [39,[41][42][43][44][45][46]. The use of oxytocin together with stem cells has a regulatory effect on growth and differentiation [47][48][49][50][51][52].…”

The multifarious oxytocin: a review

“…Consequently, treatment with oxytocin might potentially improve cardiovascular outcome in patients at risk for heart failure especially in association with obesity and diabetes. 51…”

Application of Raman spectroscopy in comparative study of antiobesity influence of oxytocin and freeze‐dried extracts of Uvariodendron anisatum Verdeck (Annonaceae) in Sprague Dawley rats

“…This hormone (OT) is associated with labour, lactation, and regulation of social behaviour in mammals . It has chemical formula C 43 H 66 N 12 S 2 and is locally produced in the brain and released to the circulatory system . It consists of nine amino acids in the sequence: cysteine–tyrosine–isoleucine–glutamine–asparagine–cysteine–proline–leucine–glycine .…”

“…In men, OT administration causes a shift in diet preference from carbohydrates to fats . The hormone is argued to make cells resistant to diabetic conditions and improve their insulin sensitivity . In a study on African American males, the levels of OT in blood of type II diabetic males were found to be lower than in healthy ones .…”

“…[9,11] It has chemical formula C 43 H 66 N 12 S 2 and is locally produced in the brain and released to the circulatory system. [11,12] It consists of nine amino acids in the sequence: cysteine-tyrosine-isoleucine-glutamine-asparagine-cysteine-proline-leucine-glycine. [13] Administration of OT to obese rhesus monkeys [5] and rats [6,14] has been reported to cause weight reduction.…”