Oxytocin
Oxytocin is a peptide, indexed here under Endocrine and immune signalling peptides.
Identity
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Classification | Peptide |
| Primary class | Endocrine and immune signalling peptides |
| CAS registry number | 50-56-6[1] |
| PubChem CID | 439302[1] |
| UniProt accession | Unknown No UniProt query was run in v1. |
| Molecular formula | C43H66N12O12S2[1] |
| Molecular weight | 1007.2 g/mol[1] |
| Amino-acid sequence | Unknown Not reported by the PubChem property set retrieved for this record; no sequence database query was run in v1. |
| Reported half-life | Unknown No pharmacokinetics source was retrieved in v1. PubChem does not carry half-life as a property, so this is recorded as not yet sourced rather than estimated. |
What the cited literature examines
Oxytocin is a nonapeptide hormone of the posterior pituitary. The Drugs@FDA register returned approved applications under this generic name; those products are recorded in the regulatory status field and are not what this page describes. A 2001 Physiological Reviews article covers the structure, function and regulation of the oxytocin receptor system, and a 2018 article in the same journal covers the receptor from intracellular signalling to behaviour.
The most-cited retrieved records are social neuroscience. A 2005 Nature paper reports an effect on trust in human subjects, a 2005 Journal of Neuroscience paper reports modulation of neural circuitry for social cognition and fear, a 2003 Biological Psychiatry paper reports an interaction with social support on cortisol and stress responses, a 2007 paper in the same journal reports a mind-reading task, and a 2011 Trends in Cognitive Sciences review argues that context and person matter for its social effects. Animal records include a 2012 Neuron paper on evoked axonal release in the central amygdala and a 2013 Nature paper on nucleus accumbens oxytocin and serotonin in social reward; 2008 Science and 2011 Nature Reviews Neuroscience articles cover oxytocin and vasopressin together as social neuropeptides.
[3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13]Reported mechanism
A posterior pituitary nonapeptide acting at the oxytocin receptor; the retrieved records report central effects on social cognition and fear circuitry.
[3, 6]Stated in the titles of the cited 2001 Physiological Reviews and 2005 Journal of Neuroscience papers.
Targets named in the cited records: oxytocin receptor.
FDA application register
A query of the FDA Drugs@FDA application register on 2026-10-09 returned 3 application record(s) for this compound name (including ANDA200219, NDA018248, NDA018261, marketed as OXYTOCIN, PITOCIN). Material supplied as a research chemical is not the subject of those applications and is not an FDA-approved product.[2]
Scope statement: this records the result of a single automated query against the openFDA drugsfda endpoint on the stated date. It is not legal advice and is not a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction legality assessment.
Retrieved 2026-10-09.
Amounts reported in the cited literature
Unknown. No retrieved record in this dataset states an amount, so none is shown. Where an amount is recorded it is what a named study reported administering in its own stated model, in the past tense, and is not a protocol.
No study-reported dose was taken from a source read in v1. Literature-reported values are only recorded where the retrieved citation metadata states the figure.
Adverse effects reported in the cited literature
Unknown. No retrieved record in this dataset reports an adverse effect for this compound, so no row is shown. Absence of a row records the absence of a retrieved report, nothing more.
No adverse-effect row was taken from a source read in v1. Rows are only recorded with the study model named and the reporting citation attached.
Other names
Oxytocin appears under these other names in the cited records or in common usage. Each one resolves to this page rather than to a separate page of its own.
- Pitocin
- OT peptide
Where this page sits
Research records
Cited research records for Oxytocin, each with its identifier, the publication type it is indexed as, and the study model stated by its assigned subject headings.
Side-by-side pages that include Oxytocin
Compounds indexed next to it
- Vasopressin — Endocrine and immune signalling peptides
- Kisspeptin-10 — Endocrine and immune signalling peptides
- Desmopressin — Endocrine and immune signalling peptides
- Teriparatide — Endocrine and immune signalling peptides
Class page: Endocrine and immune signalling peptides. Full index: all indexed compounds.
Questions this page answers
What does the cited literature examine for Oxytocin?
Oxytocin is a nonapeptide hormone of the posterior pituitary. The Drugs@FDA register returned approved applications under this generic name; those products are recorded in the regulatory status field and are not what this page describes.
Which class is Oxytocin indexed under?
Oxytocin is indexed under Endocrine and immune signalling peptides. This class groups peptides whose retrieved literature concerns endocrine or immune signalling outside the growth hormone axis.
What does the FDA application register show for Oxytocin?
A query of the FDA Drugs@FDA application register on 2026-10-09 returned 3 application record(s) for this compound name (including ANDA200219, NDA018248, NDA018261, marketed as OXYTOCIN, PITOCIN). Material supplied as a research chemical is not the subject of those applications and is not an FDA-approved product.
Sources
- PubChem Compound Summary for CID 439302, Oxytocin. PubChem, National Library of Medicine (2026). pubchem:439302
- Drugs@FDA application register query for this compound, 3 application(s) returned: ANDA200219, NDA018248, NDA018261. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, openFDA drugsfda endpoint (2026). fda:oxytocin
- The oxytocin receptor system: structure, function, and regulation. Physiological reviews (2001). pmid:11274341
- The Oxytocin Receptor: From Intracellular Signaling to Behavior. Physiological reviews (2018). pmid:29897293
- Oxytocin increases trust in humans. Nature (2005). pmid:15931222
- Oxytocin modulates neural circuitry for social cognition and fear in humans. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience (2005). pmid:16339042
- Social support and oxytocin interact to suppress cortisol and subjective responses to psychosocial stress. Biological psychiatry (2003). pmid:14675803
- Oxytocin improves "mind-reading" in humans. Biological psychiatry (2007). pmid:17137561
- Social effects of oxytocin in humans: context and person matter. Trends in cognitive sciences (2011). pmid:21696997
- Evoked axonal oxytocin release in the central amygdala attenuates fear response. Neuron (2012). pmid:22325206
- Social reward requires coordinated activity of nucleus accumbens oxytocin and serotonin. Nature (2013). pmid:24025838
- Oxytocin, vasopressin, and the neurogenetics of sociality. Science (New York, N.Y.) (2008). pmid:18988842
- Oxytocin and vasopressin in the human brain: social neuropeptides for translational medicine. Nature reviews. Neuroscience (2011). pmid:21852800
On each stated value was matched to the record cited for it. That is record matching, not an appraisal of the research. Compiled and checked by: Peptide Monographs editorial desk. No qualified clinical reviewer.