Bernard B. Brodie Department of Neuroscience and Centre of Excellence for the Neurobiology of Addictions, University of Cagliari, 09042 Monserrato, Cagliari, Italy.
Neuropharmacology. 2011 Jul-Aug;61(1-2):181-8. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2011.03.026. Epub 2011 Apr 7.
Oxytocin (100 ng) injected unilaterally into the ventral subiculum of the hippocampus induces penile erection episodes, which started 30 min after treatment and were abolished by the prior injection of d(CH(2))(5)Tyr(Me)(2)-Orn(8)-vasotocin (2 μg), an oxytocin receptor antagonist, into the ventral subiculum. Oxytocin-induced penile erection occurred 15 min after the increase of the concentration of extracellular dopamine in the dialysate obtained from either the nucleus accumbens or the prelimbic medial prefrontal cortex, which was also abolished by d(CH(2))(5)Tyr(Me)(2)-Orn(8)-vasotocin. An increase in extracellular glutamic acid concentration was also observed in the same dialysate obtained from the ventral tegmental area, but not from the prelimbic medial prefrontal cortex or the nucleus accumbens in which dopamine concentration was measured, 15 min after the injection of oxytocin into the ventral subiculum. This effect was also abolished by the prior injection of d(CH(2))(5)Tyr(Me)(2)-Orn(8)-vasotocin into the ventral subiculum. These results confirm previous findings showing that ventral subiculum oxytocin-induced penile erection is mediated by an increase of glutamic acid neurotransmission in the ventral tegmental area. This in turn increases mesolimbic and mesocortical dopaminergic activity, releasing dopamine in the nucleus accumbens and in the prelimbic medial prefrontal cortex. These results are in line with previous studies supporting the hypothesis that the ventral subiculum participates in a complex neural circuit controlling not only penile erection and copulation, but also sexual motivation, arousal and rewarding.
催产素（100ng）单侧注射到海马腹侧下托会引发阴茎勃起，该反应在治疗后 30 分钟开始，并可被催产素受体拮抗剂 d(CH(2))(5)Tyr(Me)(2)-Orn(8)-vasotocin（2μg）预先注射到腹侧下托所消除。催产素诱导的阴茎勃起发生在从伏隔核或前额皮质内侧前脑区获得的透析液中外源性多巴胺浓度增加后 15 分钟，这也可被 d(CH(2))(5)Tyr(Me)(2)-Orn(8)-vasotocin 消除。在腹侧被盖区相同的透析液中也观察到细胞外谷氨酸浓度增加，但在测量多巴胺浓度的前额皮质内侧前脑区或伏隔核中没有观察到，这是在腹侧下托注射催产素后 15 分钟。这种效应也可被 d(CH(2))(5)Tyr(Me)(2)-Orn(8)-vasotocin 预先注射到腹侧下托所消除。这些结果证实了先前的发现，即腹侧下托催产素诱导的阴茎勃起是通过腹侧被盖区谷氨酸能神经传递的增加介导的。这反过来又增加了中脑边缘和中脑皮质多巴胺能活性，在伏隔核和前额皮质内侧前脑区释放多巴胺。这些结果与先前的研究一致，支持了腹侧下托参与控制不仅是阴茎勃起和交配，还有性动机、唤起和奖赏的复杂神经回路的假设。
