title: Acute hypernatremia exerts an inhibitory oxytocinergic tone that is associated with anxiolytic mood in male rats.
abstract: Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric illnesses and are associated with heightened stress responsiveness. The neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) has garnered significant attention for its potential as a treatment for anxiety disorders; however, the mechanism mediating its effects on stress responses and anxiety is not well understood. Here we used acute hypernatremia, a stimulus that elevates brain levels of OT, to discern the central oxytocinergic pathways mediating stress responsiveness and anxiety-like behavior. Rats were rendered hypernatremic by acute administration of 2.0 M NaCl and had increased plasma sodium concentration, plasma osmolality, and Fos induction in OT-containing neurons relative to 0.15 M NaCl-treated controls. Acute hypernatremia decreased restraint-induced elevations in corticosterone and created an inhibitory oxytocinergic tone on parvocellular neurosecretory neurons within the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. In contrast, evaluation of Fos immunohistochemistry determined that acute hypernatremia followed by restraint increased neuronal activation in brain regions receiving OT afferents that are also implicated in the expression of anxiety-like behavior. To determine whether these effects were predictive of altered anxiety-like behavior, rats were subjected to acute hypernatremia and then tested in the elevated plus maze. Relative to controls given 0.15 M NaCl, rats given 2.0 M NaCl spent more time in the open arms of the elevated plus maze, suggesting that acute hypernatremia is anxiolytic. Collectively the results suggest that acute elevations in plasma sodium concentration increase central levels of OT, which decreases anxiety by altering neuronal activity in hypothalamic and limbic nuclei.
authors: Department of Pharmacodynamics, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.
authors: Charles J
authors: CJ
authors: Frazier
authors: Dipanwita
authors: D
authors: Pati
authors: Helmut
authors: H
authors: Hiller
authors: Dan
authors: D
authors: Nguyen
authors: Lei
authors: L
authors: Wang
authors: Justin A
authors: JA
authors: Smith
authors: Kaley
authors: K
authors: MacFadyen
authors: Annette D
authors: AD
authors: de Kloet
authors: Eric G
authors: EG
authors: Krause
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001007:Anxiety / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism*; D006955:Hypernatremia / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008032:Limbic System / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000378:metabolism*; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012149:Restraint, Physical / Q000502:physiology; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology; D013495:Supraoptic Nucleus
chemical_list: D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D010121:Oxytocin
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