Oxytocin, the ‘love hormone’, could help regenerate hearts in the future

Oxytocin is known as the love hormone for being related to all feelings warm and fuzzy, being associated with bonding, attachment, empathy, trust and sex. It also regulates lactation, uterine contractions, the movement of sperm, and testosterone production.

A scientific study published in September 2022, and carried out by researchers at Michigan State University, suggested that oxytocin can partially regenerate injured heart cells.

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Researchers noted that zebrafish produced oxytocin after their hearts were injured by extreme cold, leading to a response that promotes heart regeneration.

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According to the study, in zebrafish, it was shown that "following an injury to the heart, the hormone oxytocin was released into the brain, in a process critical for heart regeneration and cardiac muscle activation."

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In fact, the researchers reported an increase of 18-fold of oxytocin in the zebrafish’s brain within three days of a heart injury.

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It is worth mentioning that the researchers chose zebrafish for the experiment because of its high ability to regenerate organs and tissues, including the brain, heart and bones.

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In the case of mammals, this process doesn’t work independently, but it might if cells are reprogrammed.

However, oxytocin did had a similar effect on human cells in a laboratory. The scientists tested 15 neurohormones and they said oxytocin had the strongest effect on stimulating the regeneration of human cells.

The recent discovery could contribute to significant advances in the treatment of cardiac injuries. Cardiovascular diseases represent the leading cause of death in most countries around the world.

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In the United States, about 697,000 people died from heart complications in 2020, which represents 1 in 5 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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What happens in a heart attack, for example, is that the cells killed in the incident are not able to regenerate themselves. In this sense, the study points to a possible solution, whose main help comes precisely from oxytocin.

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According to the study, "there is evidence that oxytocin may be the missing link to achieve sufficient proliferation, activation and migration to fully regenerate lost myocardium in the wounded heart."

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"Oxytocin is able to activate cardiac repair mechanisms in injured hearts in zebrafish and human cell cultures, opening the door to new potential therapies for regeneration of the organ in humans", said Aitor Aguirre, the article’s lead author to CNN.

Photo: Unsplash/Robina Weermeijer

On the prospects for applying the discovery, Aguirre seems optimistic. "Oxytocin, or a drug that mimics it, can have positive effects in patients who have suffered a heart attack, regenerating parts of the lost muscle”.

Aguirre added that accomplishing  even a 15% of heart recovery would already be a huge step, as it would “significantly improve the lives of patients.”

Furthermore, advances in biomedicine and engineering point to an improvement in the quality of life of patients, especially the elderly, who suffer the most from heart disease.

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