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Neuropeptides

Vasopressin: not just for males

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 9, pages 890–891 (2008)Cite this article

The authors measured the effects of manipulating the AVP and OXT systems on specific aspects of maternal behaviour in rats, including arched-back nursing and the time spent in direct contact with pups. They found that repeated intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injections of antagonists to the AVP-V1a receptor (AVPR) or of antagonists to the OXT receptor (OXTR) reduced the frequency of arched-back nursing, whereas chronic infusion of AVP, but not OXT, increased it.

To pinpoint the site of action of the AVP effects, the authors focused on the medial preoptic area (MPOA) of the hypothalamus, which is involved in regulating maternal behaviour. Indeed, levels of AVPR were increased in the MPOA of lactating rats compared with virgin rats. Reducing AVPR levels in the MPOA using AVPR antisense oligonucleotides decreased the frequency of arched-back nursing and pup-contact time, whereas upregulating receptor levels with an AVPR adenoviral vector increased arched-back nursing.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Bosch, O. J. & Neumann, I. D. Brain vasopressin is an important regulator of maternal behavior independent of dams' trait anxiety. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 105, 17139–17144 (2008)

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  1. Leonie Welberg
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Welberg, L. Vasopressin: not just for males. Nat Rev Neurosci 9, 890–891 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2543

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2543

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