| Title: | Density-induced social stress alters oxytocin and vasopressin activities in the brain of a small rodent species |
| Author(s): | Huang S; Li G; Pan Y; Song M; Zhao J; Wan X; Krebs CJ; Wang Z; Han W; Zhang Z; |
| Address: | "State Key Laboratory of Integrated Pest Management, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. CAS Center for Excellence in Biotic Interactions, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. School of Medicine, Huzhou University, Huzhou, China. Key Laboratory of Human Disease Comparative Medicine, National Health Commission of China (NHC), Beijing Engineering Research Center for Experimental Animal Models of Human Diseases, Institute of Laboratory Animal Science, Peking Union Medicine College, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Beijing, China. Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Department of Psychology and Program in Neuroscience, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA. College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1749-4877 (Electronic) 1749-4869 (Print) 1749-4869 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "It is known that social stress could alter oxytocin (OT) and arginine-vasopressin (AVP) expression in specific regions of brains which regulate the aggressive behavior of small rodents, but the effects of density-induced social stress are still unknown. Brandt's voles (Lasiopodomys brandtii) are small herbivores in the grassland of China, but the underlying neurological mechanism of population regulation is still unknown. We tested the effects of housing density of Brandt's voles on OT/AVP system with physical contact (allowing aggression) and without physical contact (not allowing aggression) under laboratory conditions. Then, we tested the effects of paired-aggression (no density effect) of Brandt's voles on OT/AVP system under laboratory conditions. We hypothesized that high density would increase aggression among animals which would then increase AVP but reduce OT in brains of animals. Our results showed that high housing density induced more aggressive behavior. We found high-density-induced social stress (with or without physical contact) and direct aggression significantly increased expression of mRNA and protein of AVP and its receptor, but decreased expression of mRNA and protein of OT and its receptor in specific brain regions of voles. The results suggest that density-dependent change of OT/AVP systems may play a significant role in the population regulation of small rodents by altering density-dependent aggressive behavior" |
| Keywords: | "Aggression/physiology Animals Arginine Vasopressin/*metabolism Arvicolinae/*physiology Brain/*metabolism *Crowding Oxytocin/*metabolism Population Density Social Behavior Stress, Psychological aggression behavior density-dependent stress oxytocin (OT) soc;neuroscience;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineHuang, Shuli Li, Guoliang Pan, Yongliang Song, Mingjing Zhao, Jidong Wan, Xinrong Krebs, Charles J Wang, Zuoxin Han, Wenxuan Zhang, Zhibin eng Australia 2020/07/12 Integr Zool. 2021 Mar; 16(2):149-159. doi: 10.1111/1749-4877.12467. Epub 2020 Aug 16" |
