Hormonal Shifts Plus Sleepless Nights? Oxytocin May Help
Oxytocin appeared to influence mood disturbances brought on by the sleep disruptions associated with the dramatic hormonal shifts in the postpartum period as well as menopausal states, shedding light on oxytocin's potentially protective role in those times of mental health vulnerability.
METHODOLOGY:
Thirty-eight premenopausal women took part in two 5-night inpatient sleep experiment protocols — one under a normal hormonal state, and the other while undergoing estradiol suppression, mimicking the hormonal shifts of the postpartum and menopausal periods.
After 2 nights of uninterrupted sleep, participants were subjected to sleep interruptions for the following 3 nights, with similar sleep duration in both conditions.
They were assessed for serum oxytocin each evening and for mood disturbances, using the Profile of Mood States, each morning, in both estradiol states.
TAKEAWAY:
In both estradiol states, sleep interruptions were significantly associated with increased oxytocin levels (mean, 28.7 pg/mL before sleep interruption vs 36.4 pg/mL after; P = .002) and mood disturbances (5.5 vs 12.3; P = .0001).
Meanwhile, higher oxytocin levels before sleep disruption were associated with reductions in mood disturbances the following day.
Increases in mood disturbances resulting from sleep disruptions were also associated with increased oxytocin levels the following day.
IN PRACTICE:
'Millions of women struggle with mood symptoms during reproductive transitions, yet treatments often focus narrowly on antidepressants or hormone therapy,' said first author Irene Gonsalvez, MD, associate psychiatrist at Brigham and Women's Hospital and instructor at Harvard Medical School, both in Boston, in a press statement.
'Understanding oxytocin's potential as a natural mood modulator could help us better support women's mental health during these times,' she added.
The study showed that 'oxytocin levels rise in response to stress-related sleep disruption, and that women with higher oxytocin levels before disrupted sleep experienced less mood disturbance the next day,' Gonsalvez explained.
'These results point toward oxytocin as a potential biological buffer during periods of hormonal and emotional vulnerability.'
SOURCE:
The study was presented at ENDO 2025: The Endocrine Society Annual Meeting.
LIMITATIONS:
The authors noted that mechanistic studies are needed to better understand the direction and causality of the effects of oxytocin levels, mood, and sleep disruptions.
DISCLOSURES:
The research was supported by the Brigham and Women's Hospital Connors Center WHISPR Award, the Dupont-Warren HMS Research Fellowship, and the National Institute on Aging.
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