Adolescent oxytocin exposure causes persistent reductions in anxiety and alcohol consumption and enhances sociability in rats
Open accessAbstract
Previous studies have suggested that administration of oxytocin (OT) can have modulatory effects on social and anxiety-like behavior in mammals that may endure beyond the time of acute OT administration. The current study examined whether repeated administration of OT to male Wistar rats (n = 48) during a key developmental epoch (early adolescence) altered their physiology and behavior in later-life. Group housed rats were given intraperitoneal injections of either 1 mg/kg OT or vehicle during early adolescence (post natal-days [PND] 33-42). OT treatment caused a transient inhibition of body weight gain that recovered quickly after the cessation of treatment. At PND 50, the rats pre-treated with OT displayed less anxiety-like behavior on the emergence test, while at PND 55 they showed greater levels of social interaction. A subgroup of OT pre-treated rats examined at PND 63 showed a strong trend towards increased plasma OT levels, and also displayed significantly increased OT receptor mRNA in the hypothalamus. Rats pre-treated with OT and their controls showed similar induction of beer intake in daily 70 min test sessions (PND 63 onwards) in which the alcohol concentration of beer was gradually increased across days from 0.44% to 4.44%. However, when given ad libitum access to beer in their home cages from PND 72 onwards (early adulthood), consumption of beer but not water was significantly less in the OT pre-treated rats. A "booster" shot of OT (1 mg/kg) given after 25 days of ad libitum access to beer had a strong acute inhibitory effect on beer intake without affecting water intake. Overall these results suggest that exogenous OT administered during adolescence can have subtle yet enduring effects on anxiety, sociability and the motivation to consume alcohol. Such effects may reflect the inherent neuroplasticity of brain OT systems and a feed-forward effect whereby exogenous OT upregulates endogenous OT systems.
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Male rats administered daily oxytocin injections from postnatal day 33 to 42 spent more time in close proximity to conspecifics and made more active social contacts than controls when tested on postnatal day 55.
“Oxt-treated males spent more time in close proximity to conspecifics and made more active social contacts than controls (41).”
From Oxytocin during Development: Possible Organizational Effects on Behavior (2015) · cites this paper as [41]
Male rats given daily oxytocin injections from postnatal day 33 to 42 and tested in an emergence test on postnatal day 50 traveled further and spent more time in the open-field compared to controls, suggesting that oxytocin had an anxiolytic effect.
“Male rats given daily Oxt injections from PND33 to PND42 and tested in an emergence test on PND50 traveled further and spent more time in the open-field compared to controls, which would suggest that Oxt had an anxiolytic effect.”
From Oxytocin during Development: Possible Organizational Effects on Behavior (2015) · cites this paper as [41]
Male rats given daily oxytocin injections from postnatal day 33 to 42 consumed significantly less alcohol than controls when tested on postnatal day 72 and later, while water consumption remained unaffected.
“When tested on PND72 and later, Oxt-treated males consumed significantly less alcohol (i.e., beer) than controls, while water consumption remained unaffected (41).”
From Oxytocin during Development: Possible Organizational Effects on Behavior (2015) · cites this paper as [41]
Peripubertal oxytocin administration increases oxytocin receptor mRNA expression in the hypothalamus and plasma oxytocin levels in adult male rats.
“Similar to what was discussed in terms of behavioral effects, there does appear to be a “critical period” of organization that extends into peripubertal development, with peripubertal Oxt administration increasing Oxtr mRNA expression in the hypothalamus (41) and plasma Oxt levels (42) in adult male rats.”
From Oxytocin during Development: Possible Organizational Effects on Behavior (2015) · cites this paper as [41]
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References 97 · Cited by 143
- Authors
- Bowen, M. T., Carson, D. S., Spiro, A., Arnold, J. C., & McGregor, I. S.
- Affiliations
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Bowen, Michael T.
- Venue
- PLoS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2011-11-16
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- e27237
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3217952
- OpenAlex
- W2042192848
- Cited by
- 143
- References
- 97
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 16 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 13.49
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Australian Research Council (DP0988609)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuropeptides and Animal Physiology
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Keywords
- oxytocin, adolescent development, anxiety-like behavior, alcohol consumption, sociability, social interaction, hypothalamus, plasma oxytocin, weight gain, neuroplasticity
- MeSH terms
- Alcohol Drinking, Animals, Anxiety, Beer, Body Weight, Gene Expression Regulation, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Oxytocin, Time Factors, Rats, Wistar, Receptors, Oxytocin, Rats
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