Title: oxytocin
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - oxytocin
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.11061
Status: current

Definition
Peptide hormone secreted by the neurohypophysis that stimulates contraction of the myometrium during labor and secretion of milk during lactation.

Note
Oxytocin is used clinically in the induction of labor and in the management of postpartum hemorrhage.

Related Terms
- hormone: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/10810
- labor: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/10880
- lactation: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/10881
- myometrium: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/10991
- neurohypophysis: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11011
- postpartum: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11112

Source
- PAC, 2016, 88, 713. 'Glossary of terms used in developmental and reproductive toxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2016)' on page 789 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2015-1202)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11061/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11061/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11061/xml

Citation: Citation: 'oxytocin' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.11061
License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms.
Collection: If you are interested in licensing the Gold Book for commercial use, please contact the IUPAC Executive Director at executivedirector@iupac.org .
Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-05-14T12:25:31+00:00