Oxytocin does not attenuate the ex vivo production of inflammatory cytokines by LPS-activated monocytes and macrophages from healthy male and female donors

摘要

BackgroundOxytocin (OT) is a neuropeptide shown to attenuate inflammatory responses in both humans and animals, but the specific mechanism underlying these actions has not yet been identified. Preliminary research in humans suggests that monocytes (MOs) and macrophages (MPs) could be the target of OT’s anti-inflammatory actions. Here we present a series of ex vivo experiments in human MOs and MPs, testing whether OT attenuates these cells’ cytokine responses to a common bacterial product, lipopolysaccharide (LPS).