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

The obstetric service of Hutzel Hospital in Detroit, Michigan is responsible for approximately 7,300 deliveries annually. To monitor the quality and appropriateness of patient care, recognize and pursue opportunities for improving care, and resolve identified problems in the obstetric service as well as other clinical areas, the hospital developed a quality assurance (QA) program. The application of clinical indicators represents the principal method by which relevant QA information is obtained. These indicators are designed to identify problems in patient care. The obstetric/gynecologic QA committee analyzes the results of this indicator-based review process as well as other information (appropriateness of surgery, drug usage, transfusions, utilization of hospital resources, etc.) and reports its findings to the full staff of the Department on a monthly basis. If necessary, actions are taken to correct problems. They include lectures, individual counselling, development of guidelines, addition of personnel and/or equipment, and indicated disciplinary actions. These remedial measures have led to improvements in clinical care such as, for example, a more appropriate usage of antibiotics and oxytocin, and stricter adherence to guidelines. More important, however, are the intangible changes in practice patterns that have occurred in that physicians and other members of the health care team tend to render care with an added degree of diligence and circumspection because of their awareness that an effective monitoring process exists.
 ...
PMID:Quality assurance in a large American perinatal center. 252 Jul 85

Drug use typically occurs within a social context, and social factors play an important role in the initiation, maintenance and recovery from addictions. There is now accumulating evidence of an interaction between the neural substrates of affiliative behavior and those of drug reward, with a role for brain oxytocin systems in modulating acute and long-term drug effects. Early research in this field indicated that exogenous oxytocin administration can prevent development of tolerance to ethanol and opiates, the induction of stereotyped, hyperactive behavior by stimulants, and the withdrawal symptoms associated with sudden abstinence from drugs and alcohol. Additionally, stimulation of endogenous oxytocin systems is a key neurochemical substrate underlying the prosocial and empathogenic effects of party drugs such as MDMA (Ecstasy) and GHB (Fantasy). Brain oxytocin systems exhibit profound neuroplasticity and undergo major neuroadaptations as a result of drug exposure. Many drugs, including cocaine, opiates, alcohol, cannabis, MDMA and GHB cause long-term changes in markers of oxytocin function and this may be linked to enduring deficits in social behavior that are commonly observed in laboratory animals repeatedly exposed to these drugs. Very recent preclinical studies have illustrated a remarkable ability of exogenously delivered oxytocin to inhibit stimulant and alcohol self-administration, to alter associated drug-induced changes in dopamine, glutamate and Fos expression in cortical and basal ganglia sites, and to prevent stress and priming-induced relapse to drug seeking. Oxytocin therefore has fascinating potential to reverse the corrosive effects of long-term drugs abuse on social behavior and to perhaps inoculate against future vulnerability to addictive disorders. The results of clinical studies examining intranasal oxytocin effects in humans with drug use disorders are eagerly awaited. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Oxytocin, Vasopressin, and Social Behavior.
 ...
PMID:Breaking the loop: oxytocin as a potential treatment for drug addiction. 2219 8