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OXYTOCIN, VASOPRESSIN AND ANXIETY IN MAJOR DEPRESSION: AGO-ANTAGONIST NEUROHROMONES

BACKGROUND Oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (AVP) are very similar neurophypophyseal peptides which could be involved in mood disorders. They act as neuromodulators of the stress response. Besides its action at the periphery and at the hypothalamo-hypophyseal level, AVP exerts a positive effect on attention, immediate memory, learning and recognition. OT exerts a general amnesic influence on explicit memory. While AVP is known as an ACTH stimulating factor synergistic to CRF, it is likely that endogenous oxytoninergic system, which can be activated by physiological and/or pharmacological manipulation, can "buffer" the stress activated vasopressin-ACTH-cortisol action (Legros, 2001; Heinrichs et al., 2003). Intracerebral OT inhibits the stress-induced activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis responsiveness suggesting an inhibitory influence of OT on stress-responsive neurohormonal system (Heinrichs et al, 2003). AVP seems to play an important role in the HPA dysregulation in depressive illness. The recruitment of AVP as the primary regulator of the HPA axis in chronic stress conditions may explain the hypercortisolaemia that is demonstrated in depressed subjects. The aim of this study is to assess a possible relationship between anxiety, OT, AVP and their neurophysins plasma levels among depressed patients.