Exploring social stress though pharmacological manipulation of pair bonds in prairie voles (1171.2)

Abstract

Supportive social relationships positively influence health, whereas negative relationships have an adverse effect. This preliminary experiment investigated the hypothesis that suppressing central oxytocin activity in male prairie voles would alter pair interactions, thereby inducing behavioral and cardiovascular changes in their associated female partners. Female prairie voles were implanted with radiotelemetry transmitters and paired with an unrelated male. In phase 1, male partners received 7 days of an oxytocin antagonist (OTA; 10mg/kg/day ip) concurrently during housing with the females. Depressive behaviors and cardiovascular function were measured in the females. Females whose male partners received OTA displayed higher resting blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR), and higher levels of depression‐like behaviors in a behavioral test, vs. those whose partners received vehicle. In phase 2, females were isolated from the male partners for 6 days, plus 6 days of additional mild stressors. Females exhibited higher BP and HR, regardless of whether the male partner previously had received OTA or vehicle. These preliminary findings indicate that oxytocinergic mechanisms may underlie male‐female social interactions to influence responses to stress, and inform our understanding of the role of social relationships in mediating stressor reactivity in humans.Grant Funding Source: HL112350