How oxytocin affects pain and recovery after injury or surgery
Official title: Pharmacokinetics/Pharmacodynamics Core
Funded at Wake Forest University Health Sciences · NIH-11314602 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project measures how oxytocin dose and blood levels relate to pain relief and healing after tissue injury in both animals and people.
Quick facts
| Grant type | P01 program project |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Wake Forest University Health Sciences NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Winston-Salem, United States) |
| Project start | April 15, 2022 |
| Project end | March 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $25,710 |
| NIH project number | 5P01NS119159-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11314602 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates would be adults facing surgery or with a recent tissue injury and acute pain who can attend clinic visits for dosing, blood draws, and pain testing.
✕Less likely to help
People with long-standing chronic pain not related to recent tissue injury are less likely to benefit from this acute-injury-focused work.
What this research studies
From your perspective, researchers will give oxytocin by different routes and measure blood levels and pain responses to map how dose becomes drug in the body and then changes symptoms. They will study how oxytocin acts at injured tissues and in the spinal cord and brain to change acute pain and sensitization. The team will build mathematical models that link dose, blood concentration, and effect so dosing can be more predictable. Work combines animal experiments and human testing, including measurements around surgery or other tissue injuries to see effects on recovery.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to better oxytocin-based treatments or dosing rules to reduce acute pain and improve recovery after surgery.
How similar studies have gone: Some animal studies and small human trials have hinted that oxytocin can reduce pain, but this program adds rigorous pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modeling and direct translation between animals and people.
Where this research is happening
-
Wake Forest University Health Sciences
Winston-Salem, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Shafer, Steven Louis — Wake Forest University Health Sciences
- Study coordinator: Shafer, Steven Louis
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Sub-second acetylcholine release in the brain for Alzheimer’s dementia
A small, quick stimulations-based study aims to boost a brain chemical called acetylcholine to help people with Alzheimer’s disease by using a targeted brain stimulation approach.
-
Understanding how broadly neutralizing antibodies may help HIV cure trials
A study at UC San Francisco looks at how antibody medicines behave in people on and off HIV therapy to help design better cure strategies.
-
Improving HIV-related brain infections by studying how drugs reach the brain
This grant looks at how well drugs reach the brain and spine to treat HIV-related infections like cryptococcal meningitis and TB meningitis in people with AIDS.
-
Transdermal delivery patch for zanamivir to treat influenza in patients
A new skin patch delivers zanamivir to people with flu or at risk of flu, aiming for easier, safer treatment than pills.
-
Chesapeake-Ohio Pharmacokinetics Core supports cancer drug testing
A collaborative core lab helps researchers study how cancer drugs behave in the body to improve clinical trials and patient care.
-
Urine color test to check tuberculosis drug levels in children and adults
This project uses a simple urine color test to see whether children and adults with TB are getting enough of key TB medicines like rifampin.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.