Giving a single IV dose of kisspeptin (a short peptide) to healthy adults caused a short‑term rise in blood oxytocin, especially in men. The effect peaked about 10 minutes after injection and then faded. This suggests kisspeptin could be used as a quick test to see if someone's oxytocin system is working, but it isn’t a ready‑to‑use supplement for daily health.

A clinically significant oxytocin-deficient state (OXT-D) has been established in adults with arginine vasopressin deficiency, and there is a need to develop diagnostic testing. Kisspeptin (KP) is a candidate for such a test, as KP receptors are found on oxytocinergic neurons, and KP administration increases plasma OXT in animals. We hypothesized that intravenous KP administration would increase peripheral OXT levels post-injection in healthy adults. Kisspeptin-112-121 (KP analog, 0.24 nmol/kg bolus) was administered to 12 healthy adults (50% female). Serum OXT was measured before and 10, 20, 40, and 60 min after KP administration. Males and females did not differ significantly in age, BMI, or baseline OXT levels. Ten minutes after KP, OXT increased by 18.8% from baseline (FDR-P = .004) with a greater increase in males than females (31.9% vs 5.7%, respectively, FDR-P = .004). Our data support KP as a candidate for a provocative test to identify OXT-D in males. Our study was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT00914823).