Fig. 6: Spray and nebulized OT result in similar pharmacokinetics profiles in the plasma.

From the plasmatic concentrations of OT at several timepoints after dosing, we calculated the area under the curve (AUC) using the trapezoidal rule for each subject and session. We also determined the absolute bioavailability of OT in systemic circulation for each of the intranasal methods of administration, calculated as the dose-corrected AUC of each intranasal administration divided by the dose-corrected AUC of the intravenous administration. Mean AUCs were compared between the three methods of administration with a repeated measures one-way analysis of variance, using the Greenhouse-Geisser correction against violations of sphericity. Post-hoc comparisons between methods were implemented using Tukey’s correction for multiple comparisons. Mean absolute bioavailabilities were compared between the standard nasal spray and the PARI SINUS nebulizer using a two-tailed paired t-test. In panel a, we present the variations of the concentrations of OT in plasma across time; in panel b, we present the results of the comparison of AUCs between treatments; and in panel c, we present the comparison of absolute plasmatic bioavailability between spray and nebulizer. Data are presented as mean ± 1 standard error of the mean (SEM). Error bars correspond to SEM. Statistical significance was set to p < 0.05 (two-tailed). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.