Due to oxytocin’s impact on bone restoration in maternal skeletons, it has been discovered that the same concept is not limited to pregnant women. Research has led scientists to believe that there is a wide range of uses for the oxytocin hormone with their role being heavily relied on by the aid of bone metabolism in osteoporosis. Osteoporosis results in a decrease of bone metabolism from a decrease in bone density and bone mass. Numerous studies have suggested that a link between oxytocin and bone metabolism will reverse the effects of this decrease and restore bone formation.
Literature Review
Oxytocin is most widely known as the love hormone. It is released by the pituitary gland and secreted in the hypothalamus. Classing as a …show more content…
The MAOK/ERK pathway is a chain of proteins communicating a signal via a receptor on the cell surface to the DNA in the nucleus of that cell. The way that they communicate is by adding phosphate groups to a neighboring protein and oxytocin helps by promoting cell proliferation. Oxytocin levels and oxytocin receptors reduce the expression in muscle stem cells during aging which in turn affects the homeostasis of skeletal muscle tissue (Colaianni, Sun, Zaidi and Zallone 2015). In females, oxytocin helps to induce labor by contracting the uterus. It also stimulates the ejection of milk in the breasts and stops once breast feeding cease (Elabd and Sabry 2105). In males, oxytocin moves sperm and produces testosterone in the testes. When released into the brain oxytocin affects emotions, social and cognitive behaviors. It can form a bond between a mother and a child and also stimulate sexual arousal, trust, and stress. Once oxytocin is released, it cannot re-enter the brain because of the blood brain barrier. A blood brain barrier blocks certain substances from passing through by capillaries carrying blood to the brain and spinal cord tissues. In contrast to oxytocin …show more content…
Due to studies and more research, it has been discovered that oxytocin directly affects bone mass. In a study done on mice, those that lacked oxytocin showed osteopenia due to impaired bone formation (Colaianni, Sun, Zaidi and Zallone 2015). Osteopenia is similar to osteoporosis in that they both decrease bone density, however it is less severe than osteoporosis. On the other hand, oxytocin deficiency does not affect bone resorption; instead it inhibits the resorptive function of the osteoclasts that is stimulates (Colaianni, Sun, Zaidi and Zallone 2015). Oxytocin from the peripheral nervous system stimulates osteoblast formation which makes it very important for basal skeletal homeostasis (Zhu, DiBenedetto and Greco 2009). During the last phase of pregnancy, females lose about 120 grams of calcium from the skeleton. This calcium is transferred to the skeleton of the fetus which is quantified as a one to three percent bone loss per year for females. After further study it was shown that oxytocin plays a role in the transfer of the calcium and that females with oxytocin deficiency did not pass any defects onto their children (Colaianni, Sun, Zaidi, Zallone 2015). Acting as a paracrine-autocrine regulator, oxytocin is produced by bone marrow osteoblasts modulated by estrogens. A lack of oxytocin may lead to overfeeding, an increase in carbohydrate increase, an increase in body weight