Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P01178 (oxytocin)
 15,767 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A group of oxytocinergic neurons originating in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus and projecting to extrahypothalamic brain areas (e.g. hippocampus, medulla oblongata and spinal cord) control penile erection. Activation of these neurons by dopamine and dopamine agonists, excitatory amino acids (N-methyl-D-aspartic acid) or oxytocin itself, or by electrical stimulation leads to penile erection, while their inhibition by GABA and GABA agonists or by opioid peptides and opiate-like drugs inhibits this sexual response. The activation of oxytocinergic neurons in the paraventricular nucleus by dopamine, oxytocin and excitatory amino acids is apparently secondary to the activation of nitric oxide (NO) synthase. NO in turn activates, by a mechanism that is as yet unidentified, the release of oxytocin from oxytocinergic neurons in extrahypothalamic brain areas. Several peptide analogues of hexarelin, a growth hormone releasing peptide, also induce penile erection when injected into the paraventricular nucleus and, to a lesser extent, systemically, apparently by acting on a specific receptor to activate oxytocinergic neurons as shown for the above drugs and oxytocin. Paraventricular oxytocinergic neurons and mechanisms similar to those reported above are also involved in the expression of penile erection in physiological contexts, namely when penile erection is induced in the male by the presence of an inaccessible receptive female, which is considered a model for psychogenic impotence in man, as well as during copulation. These findings show that paraventricular oxytocinergic neurons projecting to extra-hypothalamic brain areas and to the spinal cord are a likely target for the treatment of erectile dysfunction of central origin.
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PMID:Central oxytocinergic neurotransmission: a drug target for the therapy of psychogenic erectile dysfunction. 1252 90

The paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus contains the cell bodies of a group of oxytocinergic neurons projecting to extrahypothalamic brain areas and to the spinal cord, which are involved in the control of erectile function and copulation. In male rats, these neurons can be activated by dopamine, excitatory amino acids, nitric oxide (NO), hexarelin analogue peptides and oxytocin itself to induce penile erection and facilitate copulation, while their inhibition by gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and GABA agonists and by opioid peptides and opiate-like drugs inhibits sexual responses. The activation of paraventricular oxytocinergic neurons by dopamine, oxytocin, excitatory amino acids and hexarelin analogue peptides is apparently mediated by the activation of nitric oxide (NO) synthase. NO in turn activates, by a mechanism that is as yet unidentified, the release of oxytocin from oxytocinergic neurons in extrahypothalamic brain areas. Paraventricular oxytocinergic neurons and mechanisms similar to those reported above are also involved in the expression of penile erection in physiological contexts, namely, when penile erection is induced in the male by the presence of an inaccessible receptive female, which is considered a model for psychogenic impotence in man, as well as during copulation. These findings show that paraventricular oxytocinergic neurons projecting to extrahypothalamic brain areas and to the spinal cord and the paraventricular nucleus play an important role in the control of erectile function and male sexual behaviour in mammals.
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PMID:The role of oxytocin and the paraventricular nucleus in the sexual behaviour of male mammals. 1548 47