Oxytocin treatment improves dexamethasone-induced depression-like symptoms associated with enhancement of hippocampal CREB-BDNF signaling in female mice.

Aims: Chronic stress and glucocorticoid exposure are risk factors for depression. Oxytocin (OT) has been shown to have antistress and antidepressant-like effects in male rodents. However, depression is twice as common in women than in men, and it remains unclear whether OT exerts antidepressant-like effects in women with depression.