Oxytocin excites neurones in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis of the lactating rat in vitro

Ingram, C.D.; Cutler, Keith; Wakerley, J. B.

doi:10.1016/0006-8993(90)91078-u

Cited by 44 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…BNST appears to be sensitive to oxytocin, given that it contains both oxytocin-immunoreactive fibers (Whitman and Albers, 1998) and binding sites for oxytocin (Dubois-Dauphin et al, 1992), and neurons in BNST exhibit excitatory responses following application of oxytocin (Ingram et al, 1990). In a recent study we found that unilateral injections of a specific oxytocin receptor antagonist into BNST decrease vaginal marking to male odors, without affecting marking to female odors or preferential investigation of male odors (Martinez et al, 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis is critical for sexual solicitation, but not for opposite-sex odor preference, in female Syrian hamsters

Martínez¹,

Petrulis²

2011

Hormones and Behavior

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Successful reproduction in vertebrates depends critically upon a suite of precopulatory behaviors that occur prior to mating. In Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus), these behaviors include vaginal scent marking and preferential investigation of male odors. The neural regulation of vaginal marking and opposite-sex odor preference likely involves an interconnected set of steroid-sensitive nuclei that includes the medial amygdala (MA), the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), and the medial preoptic area (MPOA). For example, lesions of MA eliminate opposite-sex odor preference and reduce overall levels of vaginal marking, whereas lesions of MPOA decrease vaginal marking in response to male odors. Although BNST is densely interconnected with both MA and MPOA, little is known about the role of BNST in female precopulatory behaviors. To address this question, females received either bilateral, excitotoxic lesions of BNST (BNST-X) or sham lesions (SHAM), and were tested for scent marking and for investigatory responses to male and female odors. Whereas SHAM females vaginal marked more to male odors than female odors on two days of the estrous cycle, BNST-X females marked at equivalent levels to both odors. This deficit is not due to alterations in social odor investigation, as both BNST-X and SHAM females investigated male odors more than female odors. Finally, BNST lesions did not generally disrupt the cyclic changes in reproductive behaviors that occur across the estrous cycle. Taken together, these results demonstrate that BNST is critical for the normal expression of solicitational behaviors by females in response to male odor stimuli.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis is critical for sexual solicitation, but not for opposite-sex odor preference, in female Syrian hamsters

Martínez¹,

Petrulis²

2011

Hormones and Behavior

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“…Microiontophoretic application of OT has been shown to increase both basal and glutamate-induced activity of a high proportion of LS neurons (33), while in vitro a much smaller population of LS neurons are excited by the receptorspecific agonist HO[Thr4,Gly7]0T (34). Recently, in vitro studies of neurons in the anterodorsal division of the BST have shown that O T can excite approximately 50% of active neurons (35). Thus, although there appears to be only a weak oxytocinergic innervation of the BST and LS, high densities of OT-binding sites are found in both regions and this couples with the observed electrophysiological responses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oxytocin in the Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis and Lateral Septum Facilitates Bursting of Hypothalamic Oxytocin Neurons in Suckled Rats

Moos

Ingram

Wakerley

et al. 1991

J Neuroendocrinology

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Several regions of the forebrain possess high densities of oxytocin (0T)-binding sites including the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) and lateral septum (LS). In order to examine whether these regions participate in the central facilitation of the milk ejection reflex by OT, microinjections of OT (1 ng in 100 nl containing Janus Green dye) were made into the BST (13 tests) or LS (9 tests) of anaesthetized, suckled rats, while recording the electrical activity of OT neurons in the contralateral supraoptic nucleus. Histological localization of injection sites using Janus Green demonstrated that all BST injections were close to t h e anterior commissure, and LS injections were all located in the ventral division of the LS. Film autoradiographic visualization of OT-binding sites (in 7 tests using [1251]OT antagonist) confirmed that the BST and LS injections were located within regions of high OT binding. Injections into both regions facilitated the milk ejection reflex by increasing either the frequency and/or amplitude of OT neuron bursts, or by triggering bursts in animals that previously had shown no milk ejection responses; the mean number of milk ejections in the 30 rnin before and after injection increasing from 1.6+0.5 to 3.650.5 for BST and from 1.5f0.6 to 3.9f0.4 for LS. The OT microinjections had a more variable effect on background activity of OT neurons, increasing firing in s o m e c a s e s and not in others. This facilitatory effect was similar to that induced by microinjections into the lateral ventricle, but w a s smaller and delayed compared to that induced by injection into the third ventricle (9 tests), possibly due to unilateral activation of target sites. The facilitatory effect was unlikely to have been due to diffusion of OT into the ventricle, since injections into control sites (striatum and thalamus) at similar distances from the ventricle (9 tests) had no facilitatory effect (number of bursts during 30 rnin before and after injection; 2.2k0.5 and 1.8+0.5, respectively). These data suggest that limbic structures (BST a n d LS) participate in the action of central OT on the pattern of milk ejections in the suckled rat.In lactating rats, oxytocin (OT) neurons in the paraventricular (PV) and supraoptic (SO) nuclei of the hypothalamus display periodic and coordinated bursting activity during suckling, resulting in the pulsatile release of O T from the neurohypophysis and consequent milk ejection (1,2). The periodicity and amplitude of this bursting activity is centrally facilitated by O T itself, since intracerebroventricular (icv) injections of OT dramatically enhance their frequency and the number of action potentials in each burst (3--5). Furthermore, the ability of OT antagonists to suppress bursting activity (4) indicates that endogenous OT plays an important role in regulating the normal pattern of milk ejection responses. Results from injections into different parts of the ventricular system, suggest that the target site(s) for this OT facilitation resides within perive...

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“…For example, in studies using graded noise stress stimuli, Campeau and Watson (1997) demonstrated that, unlike many of the forebrain regions activated by this stress, the LSV showed a pattern of activity that closely reflected that seen within the HPA axis, suggesting that the two might share a common control mechanism. Not only is the LSV implicated as a gating relay for PVN control, but it possesses oxytocin binding sites (Insel, 1990;Krémarik et al, 1992;Patchev et al, 1993) and neurons sensitive to oxytocin (see distribution by Ingram et al, 1990). Furthermore, the release of oxytocin into the septal region has been suggested to mediate the behavioral responses to stress , possibly including its anxiolytic actions (Uvnäs-Moberg et al, 1994;Windle et al, 1997a).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oxytocin Attenuates Stress-Induced c-fosmRNA Expression in Specific Forebrain Regions Associated with Modulation of Hypothalamo–Pituitary–Adrenal Activity

Windle¹,

Kershaw²,

Shanks³

et al. 2004

J. Neurosci.

379

288

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We reported previously that the neuropeptide oxytocin attenuates stress-induced hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity and anxiety behavior. This study sought to identify forebrain target sites through which oxytocin may mediate its anti-stress effects. Ovariectomized, estradiol-treated rats received intracerebroventricular infusions of oxytocin (1 or 10 ng/hr) or vasopressin (10 ng/hr), and the patterns of neuronal activation after restraint stress were determined by semiquantitative mapping of c-fos mRNA expression. Oxytocin administration significantly attenuated the release of ACTH and corticosterone and the increase in corticotropin-releasing factor mRNA expression in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) in response to 30 min restraint. Restraint also induced the expression of c-fos mRNA in selective regions of the forebrain, including the PVN, paraventricular thalamic nucleus, habenula, medial amygdala, ventrolateral septum (LSV), most subfields of the dorsal and ventral hippocampus, and piriform and endopiriform cortices. In most cases, this level of gene expression was unaffected by concomitant administration of oxytocin. However, in the PVN, LSV, and throughout all subfields of the dorsal hippocampus, restraint evoked no detectable increase in c-fos mRNA in animals treated with either dose of oxytocin. Vasopressin had no effects on either HPA axis responses or neuronal activation in response to restraint, indicating that the effects were highly peptide selective. These data show that central oxytocin attenuates both the stress-induced neuroendocrine and molecular responses of the HPA axis and that the dorsal hippocampus, LSV, and PVN constitute an oxytocin-sensitive forebrain stress circuit.

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Oxytocin excites neurones in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis of the lactating rat in vitro

Cited by 44 publications

References 23 publications

The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis is critical for sexual solicitation, but not for opposite-sex odor preference, in female Syrian hamsters

The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis is critical for sexual solicitation, but not for opposite-sex odor preference, in female Syrian hamsters

Oxytocin in the Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis and Lateral Septum Facilitates Bursting of Hypothalamic Oxytocin Neurons in Suckled Rats

Oxytocin Attenuates Stress-Induced c-fosmRNA Expression in Specific Forebrain Regions Associated with Modulation of Hypothalamo–Pituitary–Adrenal Activity

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