MECHANISMS OF OXYTOCIN-INDUCED MATERNAL BEHAVIOR

我们已经报道了脑室内注射催产素对 处女大鼠诱发快速起病的全母鼠高发病率 行为。母亲行为的发生率与剂量有关。广泛性 特异性研究表明，除了催产素，精氨酸 加压素和烟酸(催产素的环结构)诱导 较少的，但具有统计学意义的完全母性行为的比率。 前列腺素F2pha诱导一过性部分母性行为。许多 物质是不活跃的。母性行为的快速诱导，无论是完全的还是 部分，由活性物质似乎是雌激素依赖的。因此，我们的 这项工作是针对母亲行为的触发因素，而不是 内分泌允许这样的行为。我们的研究以多肽为中心， 补充了早先对类固醇激素作用的优雅描述。 我们建议研究大脑释放内源性激素的重要性。 催产素和精氨酸加压素与母体行为的关系 临产大鼠与母体行为的维系护理 老鼠。我们将评估对母婴的发病和维持的影响。 耗尽下丘脑以外脑区的操作行为 催产素和加压素(损毁室旁核和/或 视交叉上核)。对于相同的因变量，我们将 评估预防催产素和加压素的手法的影响 从与受体的相互作用(脑室注射 催产素和加压素导向的抗血清或竞争性输注 这些多肽的抑制剂类似物)。我们建议测量区域大脑 脑脊液和血液中催产素、精氨酸加压素和 荷尔蒙状态下雌性大鼠脑内[~3H]催产素的摄取 有利于或不利于母亲行为的发生以及在护理和 给生过孩子的老鼠喂奶。我们打算确定这些基因 催产素和精氨酸加压素的母性行为 通过将这些多肽注射到选定的大脑部位而产生的效果。

We have reported that intracerebroventricular administration of oxytocin to virgin female rats induces a high incidence of rapid-onset full maternal behavior. The incidence of maternal behavior is dose related. Extensive specificity studies have shown that, in addition to oxytocin, arginine vasopressin and tocinoic acid (the ring structure of oxytocin) induce a lesser, though statistically significant, rate of full maternal behavior. Prostaglandin F2alpha induces transient partial maternal behavior. Many substances are inactive. The rapid induction of maternal behavior, full or partial, by active substances appears to be estrogen dependent. Thus our work is addressed to the triggers of maternal behavior as contrasted to the endocrine permission of such behavior. Our work, centered on peptides, complements earlier elegant descriptions of the role of steriod hormones. We propose to investigate the importance of brain release of endogenous oxytocin and arginine vasopressin th the onset of maternal behavior in parturient rats and to the maintenance of maternal behavior in nursing rats. We will assess the impact on onset and maintenance of maternal behavior of manipulations that deplete extra hypothalamic brain sites of oxytocin and vasopressin (lesioning of the paraventricular nucleus and/or the suprachiasmatic nucleus). For the same dependent variables we will assess the impact of manipulations that prevent oxytocin and vasopressin from interacting with receptors (intracerebroventricular injection of oxytocin- and vasopressin-directed antisera or infusion of competitive inhibitor analogs of these peptides). We propose to measure regional brain content and CSF and blood levels of oxytocin and arginine vasopressin and brain uptake of [3H] oxytocin in female rats in hormonal states either conducive or inimical to the onset of maternal behavior and in nursing and post nursing rats that have given birth. We intend to determing the loci at which oxytocin and arginine vasopressin have their maternal behavioral effects by injecting these peptides into selected brain sites.