title: Central oxytocin mediates stress-induced tachycardia.
abstract: To address the role of oxytocin in the control of cardiovascular reactivity, we examined the effect of central injection of oxytocin, vasopressin and mixed base antisense oligodeoxynucleotides on stress-induced cardiovascular and endocrine changes. Antisense oligomers were injected into the paraventricular nucleus (PVN), 4 h prior to the stress test. The oxytocin antisense abolished the tachycardia produced by 5 min of shaker stress. The blood pressure and plasma oxytocin responses were not different between the groups. PVN levels of OT were reduced in the oxytocin antisense-treated group while brain stem levels were increased. These results demonstrate the importance of a specific peptide system, the PVN/oxytocin axis, in stress-induced tachycardia. Further, the data illustrate the effectiveness of short-term treatment with antisense oligomers on physiological responses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Callahan
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Lucion
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016376:Oligonucleotides, Antisense / Q000494:pharmacology; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology*; D010286:Paraventricular Hypothalamic Nucleus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000150:complications*; D013610:Tachycardia / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D014667:Vasopressins / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D016376:Oligonucleotides, Antisense; D014667:Vasopressins; D010121:Oxytocin