Abstract: Oxytocin (OXT) is a neuropeptide that plays an important role in modulating emotion, appetite, social interactions, and the lack of OXT is related with poor suck, hyperphagia, behavior and social disturbances in patients with Prader-Willi syndrome(PWS). Short course of intranasal OXT administration rescues oral feeding and social skills in infants with PWS, but OXT is no use and could increase temper outburst in older PWS patients. The mechanism of OXT used in PWS patients remains to be further explored since no definitive conclusions have been reached so far. The latest progress of research is discussed in this article.

Key words: Prader-Willi syndrome, oxytocin, hyptonia