Low Serum Oxytocin Concentrations Are Associated with Painful Menstruation.

Oxytocin-dependent mechanisms are hypothesized to contribute to painful menses, but clinical trials of oxytocin antagonists for dysmenorrhea have had divergent outcomes. In contrast, broader studies have shown that increased systemic oxytocin concentrations are associated with increased pain tolerance and improved psychosocial function. We sought to confirm whether increased serum oxytocin concentrations are associated with menstrual pain and other psychosocial factors. Women with a history of primary dysmenorrhea (n = 19), secondary dysmenorrhea (n = 12), and healthy controls (n = 15) completed pain and psychosocial questionnaires, provided a medical history, and rated their pain during the first 48 h of menses. Serum samples were collected during menses to measure oxytocin concentrations. Oxytocin was significantly lower in participants with a history of primary (704 ± 33 pg/mL; p < 0.001) or secondary (711 ± 66 pg/mL; p < 0.01) dysmenorrhea compared to healthy controls (967 ± 53 pg/mL). Menstrual pain over the past 3 months (r = −0.58; p < 0.001) and during the study visit (r = −0.45; p = 0.002) was negatively correlated with oxytocin concentrations. Pain catastrophizing (r = −0.39), pain behavior (r = −0.32), and pain interference (r = −0.31) were also negatively correlated with oxytocin levels (p’s < 0.05). Oxytocin was not significantly correlated with psychosocial factors. Contrary to our hypothesis, women with a history of primary or secondary dysmenorrhea had lower oxytocin concentrations during menses when compared to healthy controls. Lower circulating oxytocin concentrations were also associated with worse menstrual pain and pain-related behavior. When considering the existing literature, low circulating oxytocin may be a sign of dysfunctional endogenous pain modulation. Similar content being viewed by others

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This work was funded by NICHD HD081709, HD091502, and NorthShore University HealthSystem. Author information Authors and Affiliations Corresponding author Ethics declarations Conflict of Interest F.F.T. is a consultant and speaker for AbbVie Pharmaceuticals. The remaining authors report no conflict of interest. Additional information Publisher’s Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This work was done at NorthShore University HealthSystem Rights and permissions About this article Cite this article Oladosu, F.A., Tu, F.F., Garfield, L.B. et al. Low Serum Oxytocin Concentrations Are Associated with Painful Menstruation. Reprod. Sci. 27, 668–674 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43032-019-00071-y Received: Accepted: Published: Version of record: Issue date: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43032-019-00071-y