title: Effects of chronic restraint stress on social behaviors and the number of hypothalamic oxytocin neurons in male rats.
abstract: Oxytocin (OXT) and vasopressin (AVP) are considered to be related to mammalian social behavior and the regulation of stress responses. The present study investigated the effects of chronic homotypic restraint stress (CHRS) on social behaviors and anxiety, as well as its repercussions on OXT- and AVP-positive neurons in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and supraoptic nucleus (SON) nuclei in rat. Male Sprague-Dawley rats receiving CHRS were exposed to repeated restraint stress of 30min per day for 10days. Changes in social approach behaviors were evaluated with the three-chambered social approach task. Changes in anxiety-like behaviors were evaluated in the light-dark box test. The number of neurons expressing oxytocin and/or vasopressin in PVN and SON were examined by immunohistochemistry techniques. The results demonstrated that social approach was increased and anxiety was decreased following 10-day exposure to CHRS. Furthermore, the number of OXT-immunoreactive cells in PVN was increased significantly, whereas no change in SON was seen. The number of AVP immunoreactive cells either in PVN or SON was unaffected. The results of this study suggest that certain types of stress could be effective in the treatment of social dysfunction in persons with mental disorders such as autism, social anxiety disorder. The therapeutic effects may be mediated by changes in the function of OXT neurons in PVN.
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Institute, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China; Department of Neurobiology, Peking University Health Science Center, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China; Key Lab for Neuroscience, The Ministry of Education/The Ministry of Health, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Institute, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China; Department of Neurobiology, Peking University Health Science Center, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China; Key Lab for Neuroscience, The Ministry of Education/The Ministry of Health, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Han-Xia
authors.initials: HX
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Institute, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China; Department of Neurobiology, Peking University Health Science Center, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China; Key Lab for Neuroscience, The Ministry of Education/The Ministry of Health, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Jing
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Shou
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Institute, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China; Department of Neurobiology, Peking University Health Science Center, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China; Key Lab for Neuroscience, The Ministry of Education/The Ministry of Health, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Xin-Jie
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Institute, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China; Department of Neurobiology, Peking University Health Science Center, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China; Key Lab for Neuroscience, The Ministry of Education/The Ministry of Health, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Tian-Jia
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Institute, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China; Department of Neurobiology, Peking University Health Science Center, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China; Key Lab for Neuroscience, The Ministry of Education/The Ministry of Health, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Song-Ping
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Institute, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China; Department of Neurobiology, Peking University Health Science Center, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China; Key Lab for Neuroscience, The Ministry of Education/The Ministry of Health, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China. Electronic address: zhangrong@bjmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Institute, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China; Department of Neurobiology, Peking University Health Science Center, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China; Key Lab for Neuroscience, The Ministry of Education/The Ministry of Health, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China. Electronic address: hanjisheng@bjmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ji-Sheng
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D002452:Cell Count; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012149:Restraint, Physical; D012919:Social Behavior; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D010121:Oxytocin
keywords: Chronic homotypic restraint stress; Oxytocin; Paraventricular nucleus; Social behavior