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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 Apr 1.
Published in final edited form as: Depress Anxiety. 2016 Jan 12;33(4):316–322. doi: 10.1002/da.22467

Table.

Summary of articles reviewed on plasma oxytocin and depression or depressive symptoms

Plasma oxytocin levels and subclinical depressive symptoms in non-depressed individuals
Authors Sample Analyses of Interest Measures of
depression &
oxytocin
Confounders
controlled
Findings
Eapen et al., 2014 Pregnant women ≥ 18 years old (range 17 –
47) < 38 weeks gestation with singleton
pregnancy attending hospital antenatal clinic in
Sydney, Australia recruited for larger study on
separation anxiety (N = 127)
Cross-sectional and longitudinal
relationship between plasma oxytocin level
and depressive symptoms in pregnancy
and oxytocin level, separation anxiety, and
disturbances in maternal infant attachment
at 3 months postpartum
Self-report - Edinburgh
Postpartum Depression
Scale (EPDS)
Regression
analysis used,
but covariates
not reported.
Lower postpartum oxytocin level
associated with greater postpartum
depressive symptoms
Enzyme immunoassay
(EIA) of extracted
plasma samples
Seay et al., 2014 Ethnic minority (African-American or
Caribbean) HIV-positive women recruited for a
larger study on the influence of a cognitive
behavioral stress intervention on health among
women living with HIV in Miami, FL, USA
(N = 70)
Linear and curvilinear relationships
between plasma oxytocin levels and
depressive symptoms over a 10-week
interval.
Self-report – Beck
Depression Inventory
(BDI)
Age, ethnicity,
employment,
income,
relationship
status
Lower baseline oxytocin levels
marginally predicted greater depressive
symptoms 10 weeks later (p = .06).
EIA of extracted
plasma samples
Zelkowitz et al., 2014 Community sample of pregnant women 12-14
weeks gestation with singleton pregnancy
recruited from prenatal clinics in Montreal,
Quebec, Canada (N = 287)
Relationship between plasma oxytocin in
pregnancy and 8 weeks postpartum to
stress, depressive symptoms, maternal
interactive behavior with infant.
Self-report – EPDS Age, education,
marital status
Among women reporting high
hpsychosocial stress, higher oxytocin
levels were associated with fewer
depressive symptoms and more
sensitive maternal behavior.
EIA of unextracted
plasma samples
Comparison of plasma oxytocin levels in depressed versus non-depressed individuals
Authors Sample Analyses of Interest Measures of
depression
and oxytocin
Control for
confounders
Findings
Cyranowski et al., 2008 Currently depressed (n = 17) and never
depressed (n = 17) women aged 20 – 40
years free of antidepressant medication for 2
or more weeks recruited from a mood
disorders clinic in Pittsburgh, PA, United
States (N = 34)
Compared repeated plasma oxytocin levels
and patterns between currently depressed
and never depressed women before, during
and after completion of an affiliation-
focused imagery task and a stress-focused
task
Clinician rated
Hamilton Depression
Rating Scale and self-
reported BDI
Age Depressed women had higher oxytocin
levels during affiliation task compared
to controls. Depressed women
displayed more variability in pulsatile
oxytocin release in general.
Radioimmunoassay of
extracted plasma
samples
Ozsoy et al., 2009 Psychiatric inpatients (30 women, 10 men)
with major depressive disorder (n = 29) or
bipolar depression (n = 11) hospitalized at an
academic medical hospital in Kayseri, Turkey
and 32 (20 women, 12 men) healthy controls
recruited from hospital staff (N = 72)
Comparison of plasma oxytocin levels in (a)
depressed versus controls; unipolar vs.
bipolar depression; (b) male versus female;
(c) pharmacotherapy versus ECT treatment
Clinical interview by
two independent
psychiatrists based on
DSM-IV criteria
Age, body
mass index
(BMI), number
of children
  • (a)

    Oxytocin levels lower in depressed men and women versus controls, but difference driven by differences in females only.

  • (b)

    No difference between male and female controls, male and female depressed.

  • (c)

    No difference in oxytocin levels based pre/post treatment.

Radioimmunoassay of
unextracted serum
samples
Skrundz et al., 2011 Community sample of German-speaking
healthy pregnant women 21 to 32 weeks
gestation in Basel, Switzerland with singleton
pregnancy, pre-pregnancy BMI < 32, without
major depressive episode in past 2 years
(N = 73)
Relationship between pregnancy plasma
oxytocin concentration and risk-for
postpartum depression (PPD) group versus
no-risk for PPD using EPDS cutoff of 10
Self-report EPDS at 2
weeks postpartum
Prenatal EPDS
score, length of
gestation
Lower oxytocin level in pregnancy was
associated with greater risk of
postpartum depression at 2 weeks
postpartum
EIA of unextracted
plasma samples
Turan et al., 2013 Sixty-seven (39 male, 28 female) psychiatric
outpatients with bipolar disorder (22 with acute
mania, 21 with acute depression, 24 in
remission) aged 18 – 65 years seen at an
academic medical center clinic and 24 healthy
controls recruited from hospital staff in
Kayseri, Turkey (N = 91)
Compared plasma oxytocin levels among
bipolar mania, bipolar depression, and
bipolar remission and control groups
Self-report – Hamilton
Depression Rating
Scale
Age, gender,
BMI,
cigarettes/day
Oxytocin levels were higher in bipolar
patients in any phase compared to
controls. No statistically significant
difference in oxytocin levels among
bipolar groups.
EIA of unextracted
serum samples
Yuen et al., 2014 Adults with major depressive disorder with
psychosis (10 female, 4 male) and without
psychosis (12 female, 5 male), and 19 healthy
controls recruited from a large academic
medical center in California, USA participating
in a larger study on HPA axis physiology and
depressive disorders (N = 50)
Comparison of plasma oxytocin levels
among psychotic depressed, non-psychotic
depressed, and healthy individuals; gender
differences in oxytocin levels in depressed
versus non-depressed individuals
Self-report – Hamilton
Depression Rating
Scale
Gender, cortisol
concentration
Oxytocin concentration differed
between female and male depressed
individuals, and were decreased in
depressed females versus controls,
while marginally increased in depressed
males versus controls.
EIA of extracted
plasma samples