Uvnäs-Moberg, Kerstin
- Department of Applied Animal Science and Welfare, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Abstract
The elegant work by Maejima et al. recently published in Aging Cell reveals a previously unrecognized mechanism linking age-related oxytocin (OXT) decline to epigenetic remodeling, mitochondrial dysfunction, and systemic inflammation (Maejima et al. 2025). Beyond documenting this relationship, the authors demonstrate its remarkable reversibility through nasal OXT administration. These findings provide the first molecular evidence supporting what has long been proposed: that the OXT system functions as a fundamental long-term regulator of health across the entire lifespan, from early development through aging (Moberg 2024, 2003; Uvnas-Moberg 1998). The current work now gives a tantalizing glimpse into the epigenetic mechanism behind this life course regulation.
Keywords
DNA methylation; early life programming; epigenetic aging; HPA axis; lifecourse epidemiology; noradrenergic/sympathetic nervous system; oxytocin; personalized epigenetic medicine; social connection; TET enzymes
Published in
Aging Cell
2026, volume: 25, number: 2, article number: e70363
Publisher: WILEY
SLU Authors
UKÄ Subject classification
Cell Biology
Medical Epigenetics and Epigenomics
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/acel.70363
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/146414