EN | RU
EN | RU

Help Support

Back

Oxytocin demonstrates remarkable potential in easing neuropathic pain

neuropathic pain neuropathic pain
neuropathic pain neuropathic pain

What's new?

The use of Oxytocin is associated with a reduction in neuropathic pain.

The preliminary results  of a randomized, controlled, double-blind, cross-over study depicted that Oxytocin, administered at a dosage of 100 µg, effectively reduces neuropathic pain. The investigators sought to evaluate the impact of intrathecal administration of Oxytocin compared to a placebo in relation to ongoing neuropathic pain, allodynia, and mechanical hyperalgesia.

People aged between 18 and 70 years, who had been experiencing neuropathic pain for a minimum of six months, underwent two different procedures: intrathecal injections of Oxytocin and saline. These injections were administered with a gap of a minimum of 7 days between them. The study evaluated the ongoing pain experienced in the neuropathic region using a visual analog scale (VAS) and assessed areas of hypersensitivity by testing responses to von Frey filament and cotton wisp brushing.

These measurements were carried out during a 4-hour time frame. The major endpoint of interest was the VAS pain score during the initial 4 hours following the injection, and this was assessed using a linear mixed effects model. Secondary endpoints included verbal pain intensity scores recorded at daily intervals for 7 days and the assessment of hypersensitive areas and triggered pain over the 4-hour post-injection period.

The study was terminated prematurely after enrolling only 5 out of the initially planned 40 participants due to difficulties in recruiting subjects and funding constraints. Prior to the injection, the pain intensity recorded was 4.75 ± 0.99. Interestingly, the modelled pain intensity declined following the administration of Oxytocin (reducing to 1.61 ± 0.87) compared to the placebo (which reduced to 2.49 ± 0.87).

Furthermore, daily pain scores in the week following the Oxytocin injection were lower when compared to those following the saline injection (2.53 ± 0.89 versus 3.66 ± 0.89). It's worth noting that the allodynic area decreased by 11% after Oxytocin treatment, but there was an 18% rise in the hyperalgesic area when compared to the placebo. Importantly, no adverse effects related to the study drug were reported.

While acknowledging the limitation of a small sample size, it is noteworthy that Oxytocin demonstrated a greater reduction in pain compared to the placebo among all participants. This suggests that additional research involving spinal Oxytocin in this population is needed.

Source:

Pain Medicine

Article:

Preliminary results from a randomized, controlled, cross-over trial of intrathecal oxytocin for neuropathic pain

Authors:

James C Eisenach et al.

Comments (0)

You want to delete this comment? Please mention comment Invalid Text Content Text Content cannot me more than 1000 Something Went Wrong Cancel Confirm Confirm Delete Hide Replies View Replies View Replies en ru ua
Try: