The Role of Oxytocin and Vasopressin Signaling in Health and Disease

Oxytocin and vasopressin are evolutionarily conserved neuropeptides, recognized for their fundamental roles in regulating social behavior, emotional processing, stress responsivity, fluid balance, and cardiovascular function. Beyond their classical actions in reproduction and osmoregulation, growing evidence underscores their broader influence on neural circuit development, synaptic plasticity, autonomic control, immune modulation, and metabolic homeostasis. Dysregulation of oxytocinergic and vasopressinergic signaling has been implicated in a wide range of neurological, psychiatric, and systemic disorders, including autism spectrum disorder, anxiety and depression, neurodegeneration, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic dysfunction. Progress in molecular genetics, neuroimaging, and circuit-level neuroscience has advanced our understanding of how these neuropeptides orchestrate brain–body communication in both physiological and pathological contexts.This Research Topic aims to provide an integrated platform for exploring how oxytocin and vasopressin signaling contribute to health and disease across multiple levels of biological organization—from molecular mechanisms and neural circuits to behavior and systemic physiology. Notwithstanding recent progress, key gaps remain in defining the context-dependent actions of these neuropeptides, sex-specific effects, receptor heterogeneity, and the ways in which they intersect with stress, inflammatory, and cardiometabolic pathways. By highlighting recent advances and integrating conceptual and technological developments, we seek to clarify how oxytocinergic and vasopressinergic systems regulate both brain function and peripheral organ systems, and how their dysregulation drives vulnerability and progression in diverse disorders. By bringing together basic, translational, and clinical perspectives, this Research Topic seeks to identify convergent mechanisms and therapeutic opportunities, fostering cross-disciplinary dialogue that may inform innovative interventions targeting these neuropeptide pathways.The scope of this Research Topic centers on studies examining oxytocin and vasopressin in physiological and disease states, with a particular focus on neurobiological, behavioral, and systemic outcomes. We invite submissions addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:o Mechanistic insights into oxytocin and vasopressin receptor signaling using in vivo and in vitro modelso Sex-specific and developmental influences on these systems, including epigenetic and hormonal regulationo Roles in social cognition, affiliative behaviors, and stress responsivity, across animal models and humanso Interactions with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, autonomic regulation, and metabolic processeso Contributions to conditions such as autism spectrum disorder, anxiety, depression, neurodegeneration, cardiovascular disease, and diabeteso Preclinical and clinical evaluation of pharmacological or genetic modulation of oxytocin and vasopressin pathways as therapeutic strategieso Advances in neuroimaging, optogenetics, or circuit-level mapping that elucidate these systems’ network dynamicso Potential crosstalk between oxytocin and vasopressin systems with immune and inflammatory processesWe welcome Original Research Articles, Reviews, Mini-Reviews, Methods papers, and Clinical or Translational Studies employing experimental, computational, or clinical approaches. Interdisciplinary and mechanistic studies with translational relevance are particularly encouraged. Topic editors: Ranjan Roy, Kiran George, Hans Nazarloo, Francesca Galbiati, Marta Busnelli Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/77284/the-role-of-oxytocin-and-vasopressin-signaling-in-health-and-disease