title: Possible involvement of brain oxytocin in modulating vasopressin antipyretic action.
abstract: Experiments were undertaken to test whether oxytocin (OT) may modulate the antipyretic action of arginine vasopressin (AVP) and to determine whether the action of endogenously released OT and/or AVP evoked by fever may modulate the motor actions of exogenous AVP. Intracerebroventricular (icv) injection of interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1 alpha, 40 ng) elicited a significantly attenuated rise in body temperature during the 2nd h of the febrile responses in OT-pretreated (0.1-10 pmol icv, 24 h earlier) rats. At the end of the 2nd h, administration of AVP (1 pmol icv), but not OT (10 pmol icv), significantly suppressed the febrile response in OT-pretreated but not in saline-pretreated rats. In nonfebrile OT-pretreated rats, 10 but not 1 pmol of AVP (icv) caused a significant decrease in body temperature. In rats pretreated with IL-1 alpha (40 ng icv) injection of AVP (100 pmol icv) induced enhanced motor responses. In summary, the ability of OT pretreatment to alter the febrile response to IL-1 alpha and the antipyretic action of AVP suggests a role for this peptide in fever. Furthermore, the observation that fever pretreatment can lower the threshold for convulsive-like behavior evoked by subsequent exposure to AVP raises the possibility that central OT and/or AVP released during fever could play a role in the genesis of febrile convulsions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Physiology, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Poulin
authors.forename: Q J
authors.initials: QJ
authors.lastname: Pittman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001127:Arginine Vasopressin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D007375:Interleukin-1 / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012640:Seizures / Q000139:chemically induced
chemical_list: D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D007375:Interleukin-1; D001127:Arginine Vasopressin; D010121:Oxytocin