Oncostatin M is a neuroprotective cytokine that inhibits excitotoxic injury in vitro and in vivo.

This article discusses a study which investigated the effect of oncostatin M (OsM) using in vitro and in vivo models of excitotoxic injury. The effect of OsM was determined on neurons treated with kainic acid. The study found that changes in the expression of individual subunits can affect NMDA receptor function. Moreover, it found that NMDA-induced cell death is preceded by an increase in the level of free intracellular calcium.