Meet the editors

Dr. Wei Wu is an associate professor and associate department chair in the Department of Toxicology, Nanjing Medical University, China, where he received his Ph.D. in Toxicology in 2012. He was a guest researcher at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) between 2017 and 2018. Dr. Wu is a member of different national and international societies in the fields of human reproduction and toxicology. He has

received awards from many national societies for the originality and quality of his projects. Dr. Wu has authored seventy-two peer-reviewed papers in international journals, edited four books, and collaborated on ten others. He is also a reviewer for ninety-three journals. Dr. Wu has eleven patents to his credit and has participated in the organization of three international conferences.

Dr. Ifigenia Kostoglou-Athanassiou was born in Thessaloniki, Greece. She is an endocrinologist who graduated from the Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. She obtained an MD from the University of Athens Medical School, and a Ph.D. from the University of London. Her areas of research include breast cancer, neuroendocrinology, melatonin, thyroid cancer, vitamin D, and autoimmune diseases. She has won sev-

eral awards for her research. Dr. Kostoglou-Athanassiou has published numerous papers and book chapters. Currently, she works as a consultant endocrinologist and head of the Endocrine Department, Asclepeion Hospital, Voula, Athens, Greece.

Contents

Oxytocin and Pregnancy

*and Guillermo Osorio Revilla*

Dimorphism in the Brain *by Chitose Orikasa*

*by Verena Nold and Kelly Allers*

*by Neeru Bhatt*

Oxytocin as a Metabolic Modulator

Oxytocin and Neuroprotective Effects *by Oytun Erbaş and İlknur Altuntaş*

to Improve Outcomes in Autism Spectrum Disorder

*by Katherine Kuhl Meltzoff Stavropoulos and Elizabeth Baker*

Regulation of Morphological and Functional Aspects of Sexual

An Analysis of the Implication of Estrogens and Steroid Receptor

Coactivators in the Genetic Basis of Gender Incongruence

*Isabel Esteva, Antonio Guillamon and Eduardo Pásaro*

Consequences of Chronic Stress on the PINE Network

Agonists and Antagonist's Role in Health

**Preface XI**

**Chapter 1 1**

**Chapter 2 13**

**Chapter 3 23**

**Chapter 4 39**

**Chapter 5 57**

**Chapter 6 83**

**Chapter 7 99**

**Chapter 8 121**

*by Rosa Fernández, Karla Ramírez, Enrique Delgado-Zayas, Esther Gómez-Gil,* 

Priming the Pathway: Combining Oxytocin and Behavioral Intervention

*by Haiwen Yu, Yuting Cheng, Yiwen Lu, Wei Wu and Qiuqin Tang*

Molecular Aspects and Structure Activity Relationship of Oxytocin

*by Veera C.S.R. Chittepu, Poonam Kalhotra, Tzayhri Gallardo Velazquez* 

## Contents


Preface

Oxytocin, an important neuropeptide, exerts a wide influence on the central nervous system and peripheral tissues. It regulates a range of physiologic actions in mammals other than assisting parturition and lactation functions. Oxytocin and its receptor signaling mechanism have emerged as a pathway for the treatment of endocrine disorders. This book focuses on oxytocin and health, from the aspects of molecular and structure activity, physiological and pathological functions, and

Chapter 1 discusses oxytocin in pregnancy as well as its clinical applications. It explores the link between oxytocin and pregnancy in three aspects: physiology,

Chapter 2 discusses the molecular aspects and structure activity relationship of oxytocin agonists and antagonists' role in health. This chapter outlines the phenotype characteristics of the receptor agonists and antagonists in various diseases like diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular and immune-related diseases.

Chapter 3 includes a comprehensive study about oxytocin and its physiological and pathological functions, which makes it a potential target for drug therapy. Oxytocin can be a potential avenue for the treatment of endocrine disorders such as obesity,

Chapter 4 outlines the chemical properties of oxytocin and the neuroprotective effects of the oxytocin hormone. Oxytocin can affect the course of the disease and is promising in the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders due to its therapeutic

Chapter 6 reviews the regulation of morphological and functional aspects of sexual dimorphism in the brain. This chapter addresses and focuses largely on the role of sex-dependent differences in the brain and their crucial functions in animal

Chapter 7 covers the implication of estrogens and steroid receptor coactivators in the genetic basis of gender incongruence. This chapter also discusses the candidate

Chapter 8 overviews the consequences of chronic stress on the psycho-immuneneuro-energy (PINE) system. Within the PINE network, glucocorticoids are the universal messengers that regulate overall physiology jointly with cytokines,

Chapter 5 discusses combining oxytocin administration with behavioral interventions to improve social-communicative outcomes for children with an

clinical applications.

properties and benefits.

autism spectrum disorder.

genes for gender incongruence.

neurotransmitters, and energy status.

models.

ethology, and clinical application.

diabetes mellitus, and associated disorders.
