NCT05326776

Peripheral Oxytocin and Touch

Effect of Peripheral Oxytocin on Touch Pleasantness and Pain

• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 2
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 20 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of California, San Diego · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 65 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Research shows that slow gentle skin stroking can activate special sensory nerves in the skin that elicit relaxing effects on the body and mind, similar to the effects of the hormone oxytocin. Studies also suggest that gentle stroking may even release oxytocin in the skin. However, we do not know what oxytocin does in the skin and how it affects nerves that send pleasant touch or pain signals to the brain. The proposed study will determine how individuals perceive gentle stroking and experimental pain before and after a skin injection of oxytocin compared to a placebo injection.

Conditions

• Healthy Adults

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DRUG	Pitocin	At each session, 4mcg/2ml oxytocin or 2ml isotonic saline (0.9% sodium chloride; placebo control) will be injected into the middle of the dorsal forearm. Sessions will be separated by at least 48 hours to ensure drug clearance.

Timeline

• Start date: 2023-04-05
• Primary completion: 2023-08-03
• Completion: 2023-08-03
• First posted: 2022-04-14
• Last updated: 2024-12-31
• Results posted: 2024-12-31

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States

Regulatory

• FDA-regulated drug study