Oxytocin differentially affects sucrose taking and seeking in male and female rats.
Oxytocin has a modulatory role in natural and drug reward processes. While the role of oxytocin in pair bonding and reproduction has been extensively studied, sex differences in conditioned and unconditioned behavioral responses to oxytocin treatment have not been fully characterized. Here, we determined whether male and female rats would show similar dose response curves in response to acute oxytocin on measures of locomotor activity, sucrose seeking, and sucrose intake. Male and freely cycling female rats received vehicle or oxytocin (0.1, 0.3, 1, 3mg/kg, IP) injections before behavioral tests designed to assess general motor activity, as well as sucrose self-administration and seeking. Lower doses of oxytocin decreased motor activity in a novel environment in females relative to males. Likewise, lower doses of oxytocin in females decreased responding for sucrose during maintenance of sucrose self-administration and reinstatement to sucrose-conditioned cues. However, sucrose seeking in response to a sucrose prime was only decreased by the highest oxytocin dose in both sexes. In general, oxytocin had similar effects in both sexes. However, females were more sensitive to lower doses of oxytocin than males. These findings are consistent with the notion that oxytocin regulates many of the same behaviors in males and females, but that the effects are typically more profound in females. Therapeutic use of oxytocin should include sex as a factor in determining dose regimens.
['Zhou|Luyi|L|', 'Ghee|Shannon M|SM|', 'See|Ronald E|RE|', 'Reichel|Carmela M|CM|']
D000818:Animals D001070:Appetitive Behavior D003216:Conditioning, Operant D003463:Cues D019422:Dietary Sucrose D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug D004435:Eating D005106:Exploratory Behavior D005108:Extinction, Psychological D005260:Female D008297:Male D009043:Motor Activity D010121:Oxytocin D011619:Psychotropic Drugs D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley D060865:Repetition Priming D012646:Self Administration D012727:Sex Characteristics
Oxytocin Sucrose Female Sex differences Reinstatement