Neumann I D
Department of Behavioural and Molecular Neuroendocrinology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
J Neuroendocrinol. 2008 Jun;20(6):858-65. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2826.2008.01726.x.
In addition to various reproductive stimuli, the neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) is released both from the neurohypophysial terminal into the blood stream and within distinct brain regions in response to stressful or social stimuli. Brain OXT receptor-mediated actions were shown to be significantly involved in the regulation of a variety of behaviours. Here, complementary methodological approaches are discussed which were utilised to reveal, for example, anxiolytic and anti-stress effects of OXT, both in females and in males, effects that were localised within the central amygdala and the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus. Also, in male rats, activation of the brain OXT system is essential for the regulation of sexual behaviour, and increased OXT system activity during mating is directly linked to an attenuated anxiety-related behaviour. Moreover, in late pregnancy and during lactation, central OXT is involved in the establishment and fine-tuned maintenance of maternal care and maternal aggression. In monogamous prairie voles, brain OXT is important for mating-induced pair bonding, especially in females. Another example of behavioural actions of intracerebral OXT is the promotion of social memory processes and recognition of con-specifics, as revealed in rats, mice, sheep and voles. Experimental evidence suggests that, in humans, brain OXT exerts similar behavioural effects. Thus, the brain OXT system seems to be a potential target for the development of therapeutics to treat anxiety- and depression-related diseases or abnormal social behaviours including autism.
除了各种生殖刺激外，神经肽催产素（OXT）会从神经垂体末端释放到血流中，并在不同脑区中释放，以应对压力或社会刺激。已证明脑内催产素受体介导的作用在多种行为的调节中发挥着重要作用。本文讨论了一些互补的方法，这些方法被用于揭示例如催产素对雌性和雄性的抗焦虑和抗应激作用，这些作用定位于中央杏仁核和下丘脑室旁核。此外，在雄性大鼠中，脑内催产素系统的激活对性行为的调节至关重要，交配期间催产素系统活性的增加与焦虑相关行为的减弱直接相关。此外，在妊娠晚期和哺乳期，中枢催产素参与了母性行为和母性攻击行为的建立和精细维持。在一夫一妻制的草原田鼠中，脑内催产素对交配诱导的配偶关系形成很重要，尤其是对雌性而言。脑内催产素行为作用的另一个例子是促进社会记忆过程和对同种个体的识别，这在大鼠、小鼠、绵羊和田鼠中都有体现。实验证据表明，在人类中，脑内催产素也发挥着类似的行为作用。因此，脑内催产素系统似乎是开发治疗焦虑和抑郁相关疾病或包括自闭症在内的异常社会行为的治疗药物的潜在靶点。
