Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Jan 6:21:69-75.
doi: 10.12659/MSM.893159.

The effects of oxytocin on cognitive defect caused by chronic restraint stress applied to adolescent rats and on hippocampal VEGF and BDNF levels

Ayfer Dayi  1 , Ferihan Cetin  1 , Ali Riza Sisman  2 , Ilkay Aksu  1 , Aysegul Tas  1 , Sevil Gönenc  1 , Nazan Uysal  1
Affiliations

The effects of oxytocin on cognitive defect caused by chronic restraint stress applied to adolescent rats and on hippocampal VEGF and BDNF levels

Ayfer Dayi et al. Med Sci Monit. .

Abstract

Background: Because brain development continues during adolescence, the effects of chronic stress on hippocampal changes that occur during that period are permanent. Oxytocin, which is synthesized in the hypothalamus and has many receptors in brain regions, including the hippocampus, may affect learning-memory. This study aimed to investigate chronic restraint stress on hippocampal functions, and hippocampal vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels in adolescent male and female rats and the role of oxytocin in these effects.

Material/methods: Experimental groups included control, stress+oxytocin, and stress+saline groups. Restraint stress was applied to all the stress groups for 1 h/day, for 7 days. Learning-memory tests were performed after the 7th day.

Results: In the stress+oxytocin groups, the process of finding the platform was shorter than in others groups. The stress+saline groups spent less time, whereas the stress+oxytocin groups spent more time, on the target quadrant in the probe trial. In the stress+oxytocin groups thigmotaxis time (indicating anxiety) decreased, but VEGF and BDNF levels increased. A positive correlation was found between VEGF and BDNF levels and the time spent within the target quadrant.

Conclusions: The results indicate that impaired hippocampal learning and memory loss due to chronic restraint stress can be positively affected by intranasal oxytocin.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Effects of restraint stress on Morris Water Maze performance. Mean daily latencies to escape from the start point onto the hidden platform (A) in the male and (B) female rats. * p<0.05 compared to the other groups.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Time spent in the target and opposite quadrant in probe trial. (A) in the male and (B) female rats. * p<0.002 compared with control groups. ** p<0.001 compared to the stress+saline groups.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Thigmotaxis time in probe trial in the male and female rats. * p<0.001 compared to the other groups.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Hippocampal VEGF results. * p<0.002, ** p<0.001 compared to the other groups.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Hippocampal BDNF results. * p<0.05 compared to the other groups.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Aggleton JP, Vann SD, Oswald CJ, et al. Identifying cortical inputs to the rat hippocampus that subserve allocentric spatial processes: a simple problem with a complex answer. Hippocampus. 2000;10:466–74. - PubMed
    1. Jacobson L, Sapolsky R. The role of the hippocampus in feedback regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis. Endocr Rev. 1991;12:118–34. - PubMed
    1. Conrad CD. Chronic stress-induced hippocampal vulnerability: the glucocorticoid vulnerability hypothesis. Rev Neurosci. 2008;19:395–411. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tomar A, Polygalov D, Chattarji S, McHugh TJ. The dynamic impact of repeated stress on the hippocampal spatial map. Hippocampus. 2014 [Epub ahead of print] - PubMed
    1. Sousa N, Lukoyanov NV, Madeira MD, et al. Reorganization of the morphology of hippocampal neurites and synapses after stress-induced damage correlates with behavioral improvement. Neuroscience. 2000;97:253–66. - PubMed

Substances