{"title":"Neurophysin I:一种可靠、新颖、强大的催产素生物标志物。","authors":"Cihan Atila, Andi Nikaj, Svenja Leibnitz, Matthias E Liechti, Mirjam Christ-Crain","doi":"10.1093/ejendo/lvaf078","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Oxytocin (OXT) deficiency is a recently identified novel psycho-neuroendocrine entity associated with anxiety and reduced prosocial behavior. However, diagnosis and clinical progress have been hindered by challenges in reliably measuring OXT. Neurophysin I (NP-I), an equimolarly co-released cleavage product of the OXT precursor peptide, offers a promising alternative biomarker due to its stability, although it requires validation.</p><p><strong>Materials/methods: </strong>Analysis of a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study including 15 patients with hypothalamic-posterior-pituitary dysfunction and 15 healthy controls matched according to age (±3), sex, body mass index (±2), and menopause/hormonal contraceptives. Participants received a single oral dose of the strong OXT stimulator 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, 100 mg) and placebo in random order, with a wash-out period of 2 weeks between both experimental sessions. NP-I and OXT levels were measured at 6 time points over 5 h after drug intake. Subjective drug effects were assessed using visual analog scales ranging from 0 = \"not at all\" to 100 = \"extremely,\" or were bidirectionally ranging from -50 to +50 mm, with 0 being the neutral measure = \"no effect.\" The primary endpoint-net incremental area under the curve (AUC) of NP-I from 0 to 300 min-was analyzed using a linear mixed-effects model.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In healthy controls, MDMA induced an 8-fold increase in OXT (peak: 624 pM [235-959]) and a 20-fold increase in NP-I (peak: 1508 pM [911-2233]). In contrast, in patients, MDMA induced no notable increase in OXT (peak: 92 pM [79-110]) and only a mild increase in NP-I (peak: 263 pM [140-300]). The AUC of NP-I after MDMA was 2279 pM·5 h [1087-3696] and 97 pM·5 h [50-241] in healthy controls and patients, respectively, with a significant difference (2340 pM·5 h (95% CI, 1462-3218; P < .0001). NP-I increase correlated with OXT increase (R = 0.92) and increases in subjective effects, eg, \"good effect,\" \"liking effect,\" \"feeling high,\" \"trust,\" and \"fear reduction\" (all R > 0.5).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>These results validate NP-I as a biomarker for endogenous OXT secretion after stimulation with MDMA, addressing long-standing challenges in direct OXT measurement. NP-I offers novel opportunities for research in conditions where reduced OXT levels or disruptions in signaling are implicated, such as autism spectrum disorder, anxiety, and depression.</p>","PeriodicalId":11884,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Endocrinology","volume":"192 4","pages":"502-510"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Neurophysin I: a reliable, novel, and robust biomarker for oxytocin.\",\"authors\":\"Cihan Atila, Andi Nikaj, Svenja Leibnitz, Matthias E Liechti, Mirjam Christ-Crain\",\"doi\":\"10.1093/ejendo/lvaf078\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Oxytocin (OXT) deficiency is a recently identified novel psycho-neuroendocrine entity associated with anxiety and reduced prosocial behavior. However, diagnosis and clinical progress have been hindered by challenges in reliably measuring OXT. Neurophysin I (NP-I), an equimolarly co-released cleavage product of the OXT precursor peptide, offers a promising alternative biomarker due to its stability, although it requires validation.</p><p><strong>Materials/methods: </strong>Analysis of a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study including 15 patients with hypothalamic-posterior-pituitary dysfunction and 15 healthy controls matched according to age (±3), sex, body mass index (±2), and menopause/hormonal contraceptives. Participants received a single oral dose of the strong OXT stimulator 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, 100 mg) and placebo in random order, with a wash-out period of 2 weeks between both experimental sessions. NP-I and OXT levels were measured at 6 time points over 5 h after drug intake. Subjective drug effects were assessed using visual analog scales ranging from 0 = \\\"not at all\\\" to 100 = \\\"extremely,\\\" or were bidirectionally ranging from -50 to +50 mm, with 0 being the neutral measure = \\\"no effect.\\\" The primary endpoint-net incremental area under the curve (AUC) of NP-I from 0 to 300 min-was analyzed using a linear mixed-effects model.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In healthy controls, MDMA induced an 8-fold increase in OXT (peak: 624 pM [235-959]) and a 20-fold increase in NP-I (peak: 1508 pM [911-2233]). In contrast, in patients, MDMA induced no notable increase in OXT (peak: 92 pM [79-110]) and only a mild increase in NP-I (peak: 263 pM [140-300]). The AUC of NP-I after MDMA was 2279 pM·5 h [1087-3696] and 97 pM·5 h [50-241] in healthy controls and patients, respectively, with a significant difference (2340 pM·5 h (95% CI, 1462-3218; P < .0001). NP-I increase correlated with OXT increase (R = 0.92) and increases in subjective effects, eg, \\\"good effect,\\\" \\\"liking effect,\\\" \\\"feeling high,\\\" \\\"trust,\\\" and \\\"fear reduction\\\" (all R > 0.5).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>These results validate NP-I as a biomarker for endogenous OXT secretion after stimulation with MDMA, addressing long-standing challenges in direct OXT measurement. NP-I offers novel opportunities for research in conditions where reduced OXT levels or disruptions in signaling are implicated, such as autism spectrum disorder, anxiety, and depression.</p>\",\"PeriodicalId\":11884,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"European Journal of Endocrinology\",\"volume\":\"192 4\",\"pages\":\"502-510\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":5.3000,\"publicationDate\":\"2025-03-27\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"European Journal of Endocrinology\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"3\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.1093/ejendo/lvaf078\",\"RegionNum\":1,\"RegionCategory\":\"医学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q1\",\"JCRName\":\"ENDOCRINOLOGY & METABOLISM\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"European Journal of Endocrinology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ejendo/lvaf078","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENDOCRINOLOGY & METABOLISM","Score":null,"Total":0}
Neurophysin I: a reliable, novel, and robust biomarker for oxytocin.
Introduction: Oxytocin (OXT) deficiency is a recently identified novel psycho-neuroendocrine entity associated with anxiety and reduced prosocial behavior. However, diagnosis and clinical progress have been hindered by challenges in reliably measuring OXT. Neurophysin I (NP-I), an equimolarly co-released cleavage product of the OXT precursor peptide, offers a promising alternative biomarker due to its stability, although it requires validation.
Materials/methods: Analysis of a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study including 15 patients with hypothalamic-posterior-pituitary dysfunction and 15 healthy controls matched according to age (±3), sex, body mass index (±2), and menopause/hormonal contraceptives. Participants received a single oral dose of the strong OXT stimulator 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, 100 mg) and placebo in random order, with a wash-out period of 2 weeks between both experimental sessions. NP-I and OXT levels were measured at 6 time points over 5 h after drug intake. Subjective drug effects were assessed using visual analog scales ranging from 0 = "not at all" to 100 = "extremely," or were bidirectionally ranging from -50 to +50 mm, with 0 being the neutral measure = "no effect." The primary endpoint-net incremental area under the curve (AUC) of NP-I from 0 to 300 min-was analyzed using a linear mixed-effects model.
Results: In healthy controls, MDMA induced an 8-fold increase in OXT (peak: 624 pM [235-959]) and a 20-fold increase in NP-I (peak: 1508 pM [911-2233]). In contrast, in patients, MDMA induced no notable increase in OXT (peak: 92 pM [79-110]) and only a mild increase in NP-I (peak: 263 pM [140-300]). The AUC of NP-I after MDMA was 2279 pM·5 h [1087-3696] and 97 pM·5 h [50-241] in healthy controls and patients, respectively, with a significant difference (2340 pM·5 h (95% CI, 1462-3218; P < .0001). NP-I increase correlated with OXT increase (R = 0.92) and increases in subjective effects, eg, "good effect," "liking effect," "feeling high," "trust," and "fear reduction" (all R > 0.5).
Conclusion: These results validate NP-I as a biomarker for endogenous OXT secretion after stimulation with MDMA, addressing long-standing challenges in direct OXT measurement. NP-I offers novel opportunities for research in conditions where reduced OXT levels or disruptions in signaling are implicated, such as autism spectrum disorder, anxiety, and depression.
期刊介绍:
European Journal of Endocrinology is the official journal of the European Society of Endocrinology. Its predecessor journal is Acta Endocrinologica.
The journal publishes high-quality original clinical and translational research papers and reviews in paediatric and adult endocrinology, as well as clinical practice guidelines, position statements and debates. Case reports will only be considered if they represent exceptional insights or advances in clinical endocrinology.
Topics covered include, but are not limited to, Adrenal and Steroid, Bone and Mineral Metabolism, Hormones and Cancer, Pituitary and Hypothalamus, Thyroid and Reproduction. In the field of Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism we welcome manuscripts addressing endocrine mechanisms of disease and its complications, management of obesity/diabetes in the context of other endocrine conditions, or aspects of complex disease management. Reports may encompass natural history studies, mechanistic studies, or clinical trials.
Equal consideration is given to all manuscripts in English from any country.