Reduced binding of oxytocin in the rat brain during aging

Central oxytocin (OT) receptors were labelled in 3-month-old and 20-month-old rats with an iodinated OT antagonist. Comparison of the autoradiograms by quantitative image analysis revealed in the old animals a significant reduction of binding in three regions; the number of labelled OT receptors was decreased by 90% in the head of the caudate putamen, by 68% in the olfactory tubercle, and by 41% in the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus. Previous studies had shown that the expression of OT receptors in the olfactory tubercle and in the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus was dependent upon gonadal steroids. Therefore we hypothesize that the reduced number of OT receptors in the latter two structures of aged rats was the consequence of the 4-fold decrease of plasma testosterone that we found in this age. Another mechanism may be responsible for the marked reduction of OT receptors in the caudate putamen.