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TITLE:
Estrogen modulation of oxytocin and its relation
to behavior.
AUTHOR:
McCarthy MM
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Department of Physiology, University of Maryland
School of Medicine, Baltimore 21201, USA.
SOURCE:
Adv Exp Med Biol 1995;395:235-45
NLM CIT. ID:
96283885
ABSTRACT:
Establishment of the behavioral significance of
oxytocin neurotransmission in the brain has been a leading component in the emerging
concept of neuropeptide regulation of behavior. Elucidating the behavioral effects of
oxytocin has been facilitated by its profound regulation by estrogen in discrete brain
areas and its subsequent role in estrogen-dependent responses. For example, female sexual
behavior is estrogen dependent, estrogen markedly increases oxytocin binding in the
ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus and infusion of oxytocin in this brain area
increases female sexual behavior. A similar correlation exists for the role of oxytocin
and estrogen in the regulation of maternal behavior. A possible underlying cause of these
behavioral effects is that by acting as an anxiolytic, oxytocin reduces the inhibition
inherent in social encounters. Behavioral tests in the laboratory frequently involve the
exposure of the animal to a novel environment, such as a pup-retrieval apparatus or mating
arena, combined with exposure to an unfamiliar conspecific. These stimuli are likely to
induce a stress response and perhaps this anxiety is reduced by oxytocin. Recent evidence
in mice suggests that oxytocin has anxiolytic properties in estrogen-treated females
(McCarthy and Goldman, 1994) and supports the hypothesis that a unifying principal in
oxytocin action in the brain is to facilitate social encounters by reducing the associated
anxiety.
When my office
lease expired at the end of 2004, I decided to turn it into a
"sabbatical" from my private practice. Many years ago, in my
grandfather's 89th year of life, he told me, "John, it is important
to smell the roses while you can still smell them." His life
gave living a very good reputation. It is also true that the
pursuit of that philosophy required my grandfather to to re-open his
assay office/ore market in Wickenburg, Arizona as a 75-year-old because
he had run a little short of retirement money. Thus, if blessed with his
luck and health, I'll be back.. --jjh
