title: Levels of central oxytocin and glucocorticoid receptor and serum adrenocorticotropic hormone and corticosterone in mandarin voles with different levels of sociability.
abstract: Sociability is the prerequisite to social living. Oxytocin and the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical axis mediate various social behaviors across different social contexts in different rodents. We hypothesized that they also mediate levels of non-reproductive social behavior. Here we explored naturally occurring variation in sociability through a social preference test and compared central oxytocin, glucocorticoid receptors, serum adrenocorticotropic hormone and corticosterone in mandarin voles with different levels of sociability. We found that low-social voles showed higher levels of anxiety-like behavior in open field tests, and had more serum adrenocorticotropic hormone and corticosterone than high-social voles. High-social individuals had more glucocorticoid receptor positive neurons in the hippocampus and more oxytocin positive neurons in the paraventricular nuclei and supraoptic nuclei of the hypothalamus than low-social individuals. Within the same level of sociability, females had more oxytocin positive neurons in the paraventricular nuclei and supraoptic nuclei of the hypothalamus than males. These results indicate that naturally occurring social preferences are associated with higher levels of central oxytocin and hippocampus glucocorticoid receptor and lower levels of anxiety and serum adrenocorticotropic hormone and corticosterone.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710062, China.
authors.forename: Xufeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710062, China.
authors.forename: Yating
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Institute of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710062, China. Electronic address: taifadao@snnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Fadao
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tai
authors.affiliation: Institute of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710062, China.
authors.forename: Ruiyong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710062, China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710062, China.
authors.forename: Qianqian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710062, China.
authors.forename: Shuwei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D003411:Arvicolinae / Q000378:metabolism / Q000523:psychology; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology*; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000097:blood*; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000378:metabolism*; D011965:Receptors, Glucocorticoid / Q000378:metabolism*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012919:Social Behavior
chemical_list: D011965:Receptors, Glucocorticoid; D010121:Oxytocin; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; D003345:Corticosterone
keywords: Glucocorticoid receptor; Mandarin voles; Oxytocin; Social avoidance; Social preference