Proteomics tools reveal startlingly high amounts of oxytocin in plasma and serum

Brandtzaeg, O. K., Johnsen, E., Roberg-Larsen, H., Seip, K. F., MacLean, E. L., Gesquiere, L. R., Leknes, S., Lundanes, E., Wilson, S. R. (2016). Proteomics tools reveal startlingly high amounts of oxytocin in plasma and serum. Scientific Reports, 2016; 6: 31693. doi:10.1038/srep31693 [PDF]

The neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) is associated with a plethora of social behaviors, and is a key topic at the intersection of psychology and biology. However, tools for measuring OT are still not fully developed. We describe a robust nano liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (nanoLC-MS) platform for measuring the total amount of OT in human plasma/serum. OT binds strongly to plasma proteins, but a reduction/alkylation (R/A) procedure breaks this bond, enabling ample detection of total OT. The method (R/A + robust nanoLC-MS) was used to determine total OT plasma/serum levels to startlingly high concentrations (high pg/mL-ng/mL). Similar results were obtained when combining R/A and ELISA. Compared to measuring free OT, measuring total OT can have advantages in e.g. biomarker studies.