Effects of an acute stressor on blood pressure and heart rate in rats pretreated with intracerebroventricular oxytocin injections

Abstract

Oxytocin induces a tong-lasting reduction of blood pressure in rats. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of an acute stressor on blood pressure and heart rate in rats previously exposed to repeated administration of intracerebroventricular (ICV) oxytocin. For this purpose oxytocin (0.3 mu g, ICV) was administered to mate rats once a day during 5 days. Blood pressure and heart rate were measured before and after treatment. In addition, blood pressure and heart rate were measured during 30 min after exposure to 10s of noise from an alarm clock.The oxytocin treatment reduced blood pressure significantly (systolic: 108+/-4.6 vs. 121 +/-1.8, p

Keywords

oxytocin; rat; blood pressure; heart rate; stress

Published in

Psychoneuroendocrinology
2007, volume: 32, number: 8-10, pages: 959-965

SLU Authors

• Uvnäs-Moberg, Kerstin

  • Department of Applied Animal Science and Welfare, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Zoology

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2007.06.015

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/104468