How oxytocin given by nose or IV moves in the body and may ease post-surgery pain
Creating PK/PD models for oxytocin action in humans and bridging to intranasal delivery
This project measures oxytocin levels after nasal or IV dosing to learn whether specific doses and delivery methods can help reduce the sensory and emotional parts of pain after surgery.
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 ID | NIH-11314608 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You would have oxytocin given either through an IV or intranasally while researchers take blood samples to measure how much drug is in your system and how long it lasts. They will use those measurements to build models that predict drug levels for different ages, sexes, weights, races, and ethnicities so dosing can be personalized. Pain reports and sensory testing will be recorded to link blood levels to changes in pain perception and pain-related feelings. Animal work and other projects in the program will help interpret the human results and guide choices about intranasal dosing.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Adults recovering from surgery who are experiencing acute or subacute pain and who can undergo blood sampling and receive nasal or IV dosing would be the best candidates.
Not a fit: People with long-standing chronic pain unrelated to surgery, those who cannot receive oxytocin, or those unwilling to undergo blood draws or nasal/IV dosing may not receive benefit from this project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could identify dosing and delivery methods for oxytocin that safely reduce post-surgical pain and inform future patient treatments.
How similar studies have performed: Animal studies and some small human experiments indicate oxytocin can speed recovery and reduce pain, but reliable evidence for intranasal delivery and precise human dosing is still limited.
Where this research is happening
Winston-Salem, United States
- Wake Forest University Health Sciences — Winston-Salem, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Eisenach, James — Wake Forest University Health Sciences
- Study coordinator: Eisenach, James
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 below.