Anxiety and stress responses in female oxytocin deficient mice
Anxiety and stress responses in female oxytocin deficient mice
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DOI：
10.1111/j.0953-8194.2004.01161.x
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发表时间：
2004-04-01
影响因子：
3.2
通讯作者：
Li, X
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Amico, JA;Mantella, RC;Li, X
催产素被认为可以减弱下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺轴对压力的反应，并具有抗焦虑作用。在实验室啮齿类动物中，具有心理成分的应激物引起催产素的中枢和外周分泌。催产素基因缺失小鼠提供了一种新的方法来了解催产素在压力和焦虑相关行为中的作用。我们提出了我们的经验与雌性催产素缺乏小鼠进行了测试，在高架十字迷宫（ESTA），焦虑的行为测试，或暴露于心因性应激源（平台振荡器或新的环境）。催产素缺乏的小鼠不仅表现出更多的焦虑相关行为，而且在心因性应激后释放更多的皮质酮，并表现出比野生型小鼠更大的应激诱导的体温过高。皮质酮的日变化和皮质酮对促肾上腺皮质激素释放因子的反应在基因型之间没有显著差异。我们还测量了Fos免疫反应蛋白，神经元激活的指数，在内侧杏仁核的雌性小鼠后，ESTA测试。内侧杏仁核对于心因性压力和焦虑的处理是重要的，并且还包含催产素通路和催产素受体。未暴露于α-淀粉酶的小鼠内侧杏仁核中Fos的表达在基因型之间没有差异。在催产素暴露后，催产素空白小鼠的Fos表达高于野生型小鼠。我们的研究结果支持这一假设，即中央催产素是抗焦虑，并减弱应激反应的心因性挑衅雌性小鼠。
Oxytocin is believed to attenuate the response of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis to stress and to be anxiolytic. Stressors with a psychological component evoke both central and peripheral secretion of oxytocin in laboratory rodents. Oxytocin gene deletion mice provide a novel way to understand the role of oxytocin in stress and anxiety-related behaviours. We present our experience with female oxytocin deficient mice that were tested in an elevated plus maze (EPM), a behavioural test of anxiety, or exposed to psychogenic stressors (platform shaker or novel environment). Oxytocin-deficient mice not only displayed more anxiety-related behaviour, but also released more corticosterone after a psychogenic stressor and manifested greater stress-induced hyperthermia compared to wild-type mice. The diurnal variation of corticosterone and the response of corticosterone to corticotropin-releasing factor were not significantly different between genotypes. We also measured Fos-immunoreactive protein, an index of neuronal activation, in the medial amygdala of female mice after EPM testing. The medial amygdala is important for processing of psychogenic stress and anxiety and also contains oxytocin pathways and oxytocin receptors. The expression of Fos in the medial amygdala of mice not exposed to the EPM was not different between genotypes. Following EPM exposure, Fos expression was greater in oxytocin null compared to wild-type mice. Our findings support the hypothesis that central oxytocin is anxiolytic, and attenuates the stress response to psychogenic provocation in female mice.