Men with Hypersexual disorder may have elevated levels of the "love hormone"

Written By : Hina Zahid

Medically Reviewed By : Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli

Published On 2022-02-23 03:30 GMT | Update On 2022-02-23 03:30 GMT

WASHINGTON- Oxytocin acts as counterregulatory neuroendocrine hormone to cortisol and is also involved in sexual behavior. Hypersexual disorder (HD) is considered a nonparaphilic sexual desire disorder that involves excessive and persistent sexual behaviors in relation to various mood states, with an impulsivity component and experienced loss of control.Men with hypersexual disorder may...

Men with hypersexual disorder may have higher levels of oxytocin in their blood than men without the disorder, according to a small study published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Hypersexual disorder involves excessive, persistent sexual behaviors related to various mood states, with an impulsivity component and experienced loss of control.

Oxytocin is a hormone produced by the hypothalamus and secreted by the pituitary gland. It plays a key role in sexual behavior, and abnormal levels of the hormone may contribute to hypersexual disorder.

"We discovered that men with compulsive sexual behavior disorder (CSBD) had higher oxytocin levels compared with healthy men," said Andreas Chatzittofis, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Cyprus Medical School in Nicosia, Cyprus and Umeå University in Umeå, Sweden. "Cognitive behavioral therapy led to a reduction in both hypersexual behavior and oxytocin levels."

The researchers analyzed the blood samples of 64 men with hypersexual disorder and 38 healthy men and found the hypersexual men had higher levels of oxytocin in their blood. Thirty men with hypersexual disorder went through a cognitive behavioral therapy program and saw a significant reduction in their oxytocin levels after treatment.

"Oxytocin plays an important role in sex addiction and may be a potential drug target for future pharmacological treatment," Chatzittofis said.

This is the first study to investigate oxytocin in HD using a longitudinal study approach. We present our novel findings in demonstrating elevated plasma oxytocin levels in cases of HD compared to controls. Moreover, we provide evidence that these excessive oxytocin levels are effectively normalized after CBT treatment. As such, oxytocin holds promise as a potential biomarker for HD diagnostics and as a measure of disease severity. Taken together, these findings motivate further research to elucidate the explicit role of oxytocin in HD pathophysiology. Importantly, additional studies excluding potential confounding factors from recent sexual activity are needed before causality can be inferred.

https://academic.oup.com/jcem/advance-article/doi/10.1210/clinem/dgac015/6516736?searchresult=1

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Hina Zahid

Hina Zahid Joined Medical Dialogue in 2017 with a passion to work as a Reporter. She coordinates with various national and international journals and association and covers all the stories related to Medical guidelines, Medical Journals, rare medical surgeries as well as all the updates in the medical field. Email: editorial@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751

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Men with Hypersexual disorder may have elevated levels of the "love hormone"

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