In this episode from our ENDO 2026 series , Dr. Lewis Blevins talks with Dr. Francesca Galbiati about her research on oxytocin deficiency, exploring provocative tests, recent findings, and future directions in endocrinology. Building on work she began during her fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Galbiati and her colleagues tested whether cosyntropin, a synthetic hormone already used routinely to check adrenal function, might also “provoke” the body into releasing oxytocin. The idea came from animal studies suggesting that stress on the adrenal axis can nudge oxytocin upward, perhaps as the body’s way of soothing itself. Her team studied 15 patients with a range of hypothalamic-pituitary conditions, measuring both oxytocin and neurophysin 1 (a newer, more stable marker released alongside oxytocin) before and after the test. The result was negative: Cosyntropin at the standard dose did not stimulate oxytocin. (Cosyntropin – synthetic ACTH – is an injectable diagnostic medication used to screen for adrenal insufficiency.
As Dr. Blevins noted in the conversation, a negative result is still a meaningful one — it clears a path so that future researchers don’t spend years chasing the same idea, and it sharpens the search for a test that does work. Dr. Galbiati pointed to what’s next: an estrogen-progesterone stimulation study (results expected soon), grounded in the knowledge that oxytocin neurons carry estrogen receptors, along with early European work on other stimuli. Her research is part of a larger effort, led by Dr. Elizabeth Lawson’s lab, to map the basic biology of oxytocin in humans — the foundation any future diagnostic test will have to stand on.
Read more articles and listen to a podcasts with Dr. Galbiati.
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