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Maternal separation interferes with developmental changes in brain vasopressin and oxytocin receptor binding in male
M Lukas1, R Bredewold, I D Neumann
1Department of Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
Insights
Maternal separation in rats alters brain receptor development, impacting social behaviors. These changes in vasopressin V(1A) receptors and oxytocin receptors disrupt normal brain maturation.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Biology
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Vasopressin V(1A) receptors (V(1A)-R) and oxytocin receptors (OT-R) are crucial for regulating social behaviors.
- Maternal separation (MS) is known to induce lasting changes in social behaviors in male rats.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how MS affects the development of V(1A)-R and OT-R binding in specific brain regions across different life stages.
- To determine if MS-induced alterations in these receptors underlie changes in social behaviors.
Main Methods:
- Examined V(1A)-R and OT-R binding in forebrain regions of male rats at juvenile, adolescent, and adult stages.
- Compared receptor binding in MS-exposed rats versus control rats.
Main Results:
- Observed significant age-related changes in V(1A)-R and OT-R binding in various brain regions.
- MS exposure disrupted these developmental trajectories, altering receptor binding in regions like the piriform cortex, lateral septum, and hypothalamus.
- Specifically, MS increased V(1A)-R binding in some areas and decreased OT-R binding in others, deviating from normal age-related patterns.
Conclusions:
- Age-dependent changes in V(1A)-R and OT-R are linked to behavioral maturation.
- MS disrupts these developmental changes, potentially contributing to altered social behaviors observed later in life.
Abstract:
Brain vasopressin V(1A) receptors (V(1A)-R) and oxytocin receptors (OT-R) are important modulators of social behaviors. We recently showed that exposure to maternal separation (MS; 3 h daily, postnatal days 1-14) induces changes in social behaviors in juvenile and adult male rats. Here, we hypothesize that MS induces brain region-specific changes in V(1A)-R and OT-R across development, which in turn, may underlie MS-induced changes in social behaviors. We examined the effects of MS on V(1A)-R and OT-R binding in forebrain regions of juvenile (5 weeks), adolescent (8 weeks), and adult (16 weeks) male rats. Robust age-related changes were found for V(1A)-R and OT-R binding in several brain regions. For example, in the lateral septum V(1A)-R binding increased while OT-R binding decreased with age. Most notably, OT-R binding in the caudate putamen showed a 2-fold decrease while OT-R binding in the ventromedial hypothalamus showed a 4-fold increase with age. Importantly, exposure to MS interfered with these developmental changes in several brain regions. Specifically, MS significantly increased V(1A)-R binding in the piriform cortex (at adolescent and adult ages), the lateral septum (at juvenile age), the hypothalamic attack area (at adolescent age), and the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus (at adolescent age), and decreased V(1A)-R binding in the arcuate nucleus (at juvenile age). Moreover, OT-R binding was significantly lower in the agranular cortex (at juvenile and adolescent age), the lateral septum (at adult age) and the caudate putamen (at adult age), but higher in the medial preoptic area (at adolescent age) and ventromedial hypothalamus (at adult age) after exposure to MS. In conclusion, age-dependent changes in V(1A)-R and OT-R binding are likely associated with the maturation of behaviors, such as sexual and aggressive behaviors, while disruption of these changes by MS might contribute to previously observed changes in social behaviors after MS.
