Secretin and oxytocin are neuropeptides, which are critical in the conditioning of infant adaptive behavioural patterns. Recent studies are also showing that secretin and oxytocin may act on structures associated with the onset of autism.

Oxytocin is a nine-amino-acid peptide that is synthesised in the hypothalamus and released into the bloodstream via the pituitary gland where it plays an important role in facilitating uterine contractions during childbirth and in milk let-down. In addition, oxytocin (along with the structurally similar peptide vasopressin) is released within the brain where it plays a key role in regulating associated behaviours, such as mother–infant and adult–adult bond formation, sexual behaviour and social memory/recognition. Recent studies have also begun to investigate oxytocin’s role in various other behaviours including social recognition, orgasm, maternal behaviors, anxiety, trust, love, stress reactivity and repetitive behaviours.                                         

A systematic review of studies (from the Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 2010) examined the effects of intranasal (i.e. as a nasal spray) oxytocin in humans. Effects such as alterations in social decision making, processing of social stimuli, certain uniquely social behaviours (e.g. eye contact) and social memory, were examined in this article. The following conclusions were drawn; (i) human research with intranasal oxytocin has uniquely enhanced our understanding of the microstructure and function of the human social brain and (ii) the oxytocin system is a promising target for therapeutic interventions in a variety of conditions, especially those characterised by anxiety and aberrations in social function.

Given that oxytocin is involved in the regulation of repetitive and associated behaviours, and that these are key features of autism, it is believed that oxytocin may play a role in autism. Social adaptation requires specific cognitive and emotional competences. Individuals with high-functioning autism (or with Asperger syndrome) cannot understand or engage in social situations despite preserved intellectual abilities. Andari E, et al. (2010) investigated the behavioural effects of oxytocin in 13 subjects with autism in a simulated ball game where participants interacted with fictitious partners. They found that after oxytocin inhalation “patients exhibited stronger interactions with the most socially cooperative partner and reported enhanced feelings of trust and preference.” In addition, during free viewing of pictures of faces, oxytocin showed to selectively increase patients gazing time on the ‘socially informative region’ of the face, namely the eyes. They concluded that under oxytocin, “patients respond more strongly to others and exhibit more appropriate social behaviour and affect, suggesting a therapeutic potential of oxytocin through its action on a core dimension of autism.”

Another study carried out by Guastella AJ et al; published in Biological Psychiatry (2010) examined how “intranasal oxytocin improves emotion recognition for youth with autism spectrum disorders.” One of the diagnostic hallmarks of autism spectrum disorders is impairment in social communication and interaction. Deficits in the ability to recognise the emotions of others are thought to contribute to this. In this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study they administered oxytocin nasal spray (18 or 24 IU) or a placebo to 16 young males (aged 12 to 19 years) who were diagnosed with Autistic or Asperger's Disorder. The participants then completed a “Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task,” a widely used and reliable test of emotion recognition. The results of this study showed that oxytocin administration improved the performance on the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task (in comparison with placebo).

Secretin is one of the hormones that controls digestion and is secreted by cells in the digestive system when the stomach empties. Secretin stimulates i) the pancreas to emit digestive fluids that are rich in bicarbonate which neutralizes the acidity of the intestines, ii) the stomach to produce pepsin (an enzyme that aids digestion of protein), and iii) the liver to produce bile.

The majority of mainstream scientific and health care communities still assume that behaviour originates in the brain and therefore, in order to affect behaviour they must intervene in the processes of the brain. However, current research by Ruggiero DA and Welch MG, on the Predicted role of secretin and oxytocin in the treatment of behavioural and developmental disorders: implications for autism, (2005) support a revised theory on the origin and nature of behaviour… rather than originating in the brain, developmental disorders, such as autism, may arise from a dysregulation of the brain/gut system, and are the result of a cascade of interrelated psychological, neurological, and immunological reactions to unmodulated stress.

Further research conducted by Welch (2005) demonstrated that treatment with combined secretin/oxytocin peptides may replicate the physiological conditions that are seen during normal mother-infant bonding and improve behavioural and gastrointestinal symptoms in autism.

At Kingsway we make up secretin and oxytocin together and/or individually in a nasal spray:

Secretin 60CU/ml (6CU per spray) – available in a 5ml, 10ml and 15ml, and recommend using one spray in each nostril one to two times a day.

Prescription Only

Oxytocin 40IU/ml (4IU per spray) – available in a 5ml, 10ml and 15ml, and recommend using one spray in one or both nostrils up to three times daily.

Prescription Only

Oxytocin 80IU/ml (8IU per spray) – available in a 5ml, 10ml and 15ml, and recommend using one spray in one or both nostrils up to two times daily.

Prescription Only

If a patient is not responding to these individually you may try combining the oxytocin/secretin into one nasal spray (80IU/60CU per ml = 8IU/6CU per spray). This is available in a 5ml, 10ml and 15ml. We recommend using one spray in one or both nostrils up to two times daily. We also recommend using before attending a social event or an environment which may bring on social withdrawal/anxiety. A nice gradual starting guide is to begin with one spray into one nostril twice daily and slowly increase to two sprays twice daily. (Prescription only)