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Oxytocin as a natural antipsychotic: a study using oxytocin knockout mice

Molecular Psychiatry volume 14, pages 190–196 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

It has been previously suggested that oxytocin (Oxt) may act as a natural antipsychotic. To test this hypothesis, we investigated whether disruption of the oxytocin gene (Oxt−/−) made mice more susceptible to the psychosis-related effects of amphetamine (Amp), apomorphine (Apo) and phencyclidine (PCP). We examined drug-induced changes in the prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the startle reflex, a measure of sensorimotor gating deficits characteristic of several psychiatric and neurological disorders, including schizophrenia. We found that treatment with Amp, Apo and PCP all had effects on PPI. However, in Oxt−/− mice, but not Oxt+/+ mice, PCP treatment resulted in large PPI deficits. As PCP is a noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartic acid receptor antagonist, these findings suggest that the absence of Oxt alters the glutamatergic component of the PPI.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the NIH Animal Facility in Building 49 for their exceptional care. We also thank Selen Tolu, James Heath and Emily Shepard for technical assistance as well as Dr Eric Mintz for his statistical expertise. This work was supported by the NIMH Intramural Research Program (Z01-MH-002498-17).

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  1. H K Caldwell

    Present address: 2Current address: Department of Biological Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA.,

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  1. Department of Health and Human Services, Section on Neural Gene Expression, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

    H K Caldwell, S L Stephens & W S Young III

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Caldwell, H., Stephens, S. & Young, W. Oxytocin as a natural antipsychotic: a study using oxytocin knockout mice. Mol Psychiatry 14, 190–196 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4002150

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