Young E, Carter C S, Cushing B S, Caldwell J D
Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Rockford, IL 61107-1897, USA.
Horm Metab Res. 2005 Jul;37(7):397-401. doi: 10.1055/s-2005-870227.
The neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) and its OT antagonists (OTA) in infant rats affect their behavior as adults. In this study we attempted to determine whether treating rats on the day of birth (postnatal day 1) with OT or OTA would affect brain OT levels of these rats as adults. Rat pups were injected with OT (3 microg), OTA (0.3 microg) or saline vehicle ip on postnatal day 1. As 60-day-old adults, treated rats were killed, and the OT content in their medial preoptic areas (MPOAs), medial hypothalami (MH) and pituitaries were assayed. In females, treatment with OTA on postnatal day 1 significantly decreased pituitary OT levels as adults. In males, by contrast, treatment with OTA on postnatal day 1 resulted in increased pituitary OT levels when they become adults compared to male rats treated with OT on postnatal day 1. There were no significant effects of neonatal treatment on OT levels in either the MH or MPOA. Day 1 postnatal treatment with OT or OTA had a long-term sexually dimorphic effect on OT levels in the pituitary.
神经肽催产素（OT）及其在幼鼠体内的拮抗剂（OTA）会影响其成年后的行为。在本研究中，我们试图确定在出生当天（出生后第1天）用OT或OTA处理大鼠是否会影响这些大鼠成年后的脑OT水平。在出生后第1天，给幼鼠腹腔注射OT（3微克）、OTA（0.3微克）或生理盐水。作为60日龄的成年大鼠，对经过处理的大鼠实施安乐死，并检测其内侧视前区（MPOA）、下丘脑内侧（MH）和垂体中的OT含量。在雌性大鼠中，出生后第1天用OTA处理会显著降低成年后的垂体OT水平。相比之下，在雄性大鼠中，出生后第1天用OTA处理会使其成年后的垂体OT水平比出生后第1天用OT处理的雄性大鼠更高。新生期处理对MH或MPOA中的OT水平没有显著影响。出生后第1天用OT或OTA处理对垂体中OT水平具有长期的性别差异效应。
