Background: Attention has recently been focused on central nervous system neuropeptides as potential mediators of the symptom profile of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Increased CSF levels of the anxiolytic neuropeptide oxytocin have been reported in OCD. CSF levels of NPY, another anxiolytic neuropeptide, have not been studied.
Methods: We measured CSF oxytocin and NPY in 14 OCD patients and 26 healthy normal volunteers.
Results: There were no significant differences between the OCD patients and control subjects in CSF oxytocin or NPY levels. In both the OCD and control groups, women had significantly higher CSF oxytocin levels than men.
Conclusions: These results do not support a prior finding of elevated CSF oxytocin in OCD patients and do not provide any evidence for an abnormality of NPY regulation in OCD.