MECHANISMS OF OXYTOCIN-INDUCED MATERNAL BEHAVIOR

我们曾报道，脑室注射催产素， 处女雌性大鼠诱导高发病率的快速发作的全孕产妇 行为 母体行为的发生率与剂量有关。 广泛 特异性研究表明，除了催产素，精氨酸 加压素和托西酸（催产素的环状结构）诱导 虽然在统计学上有显著意义，但完全母性行为的比例较低。 前列腺素F2 α诱导短暂的部分母性行为。 许多 物质是不活跃的。 母性行为的快速诱导，完全或 部分，活性物质似乎是雌激素依赖性的。 因此我们的 工作是针对母性行为的触发，而不是 内分泌允许这种行为。 我们的工作以肽为中心， 补充了先前对类固醇激素作用的优雅描述。 我们建议研究脑内内源性 催产素和精氨酸加压素与产妇行为的发生 对临产大鼠行为及母性行为维护的护理 大鼠 我们将评估其对孕产妇死亡的发生和维持的影响。 行为的操纵，消耗额外的下丘脑脑部位的 催产素和加压素（室旁核损伤和/或 视交叉上核）。 对于相同的因变量， 评估防止催产素和加压素的操作的影响 与受体相互作用（脑室内注射 催产素和血管加压素导向的抗血清或输注竞争性 这些肽的抑制剂类似物）。 我们建议测量局部大脑 催产素和精氨酸加压素的含量以及CSF和血液水平， 雌性大鼠在激素状态下脑摄取[3 H]催产素， 有利于或不利于母性行为的发生和护理， 哺乳期后的老鼠 我们打算确定 催产素和精氨酸加压素在这一水平上具有母性行为 通过将这些肽注射到选定的大脑部位来产生效果。

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.