Involvement of the oxytocin system in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in the sex-specific regulation of social recognition.
Involvement of the oxytocin system in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in the sex-specific regulation of social recognition.
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DOI：
10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.11.007
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发表时间：
2016-02
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Veenema AH
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Dumais KM;Alonso AG;Immormino MA;Bredewold R;Veenema AH
大脑中催产素（OT）系统的性别差异可以解释为什么OT经常以性别特异性的方式调节社会行为。然而，OT系统中的性别差异与社会行为的性别特异性调节之间的联系尚未得到验证。在这里，我们确定是否性别差异的OT受体（OTR）或OT释放在后床核的终纹（pBNST）介导的性别特异性调节大鼠的社会识别。我们最近发现，与雌性大鼠相比，雄性大鼠在pBNST中的OTR结合密度高出三倍，pBNST是一个涉及社会行为调节的性二态区域。我们现在证明，在pBNST中给予OTR拮抗剂（5 ng/0.5 μl/侧）会损害两性的社会识别，而在pBNST中给予OT（100 pg/0.5 μl/侧）只会延长男性的社会识别持续时间。这些影响似乎是特定的社会认可，因为无论是治疗改变总的社会调查时间在任何性别。此外，基线OT释放的pBNST，在体内微透析测量，没有性别之间的差异。然而，男性表现出更高的OT释放在pBNST在社会承认相比，女性。这些研究结果表明，性别特异性作用的OT系统在pBNST的社会认可的调节。
Sex differences in the oxytocin (OT) system in the brain may explain why OT often regulates social behaviors in sex-specific ways. However, a link between sex differences in the OT system and sex-specific regulation of social behavior has not been tested. Here, we determined whether sex differences in the OT receptor (OTR) or in OT release in the posterior bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (pBNST) mediates sex-specific regulation of social recognition in rats. We recently showed that, compared to female rats, male rats have a three-fold higher OTR binding density in the pBNST, a sexually dimorphic area implicated in the regulation of social behaviors. We now demonstrate that OTR antagonist (5 ng/0.5 μl/side) administration into the pBNST impairs social recognition in both sexes, while OT (100 pg/0.5 μl/side) administration into the pBNST prolongs the duration of social recognition in males only. These effects seem specific to social recognition, as neither treatment altered total social investigation time in either sex. Moreover, baseline OT release in the pBNST, as measured with in vivo microdialysis, did not differ between the sexes. However, males showed higher OT release in the pBNST during social recognition compared to females. These findings suggest a sex-specific role of the OT system in the pBNST in the regulation of social recognition.