PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Zhixiong He
AU  - Limin Wang
AU  - luo Luo
AU  - Rui Jia
AU  - Wei Yuan
AU  - Wenjuan Hou
AU  - Jinfeng Yang
AU  - Yang Yang
AU  - Fadao Tai
TI  - Increased anxiety and decreased sociability in adulthood following paternal deprivation involve oxytocin in the mPFC
AID  - 10.1101/175380
DP  - 2017 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 175380
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/08/11/175380.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/08/11/175380.full
AB  - Early adverse experiences often have devastating consequences on adult emotional and social behavior. However, whether paternal deprivation (PD) during the pre-weaning period affects brain and behavioral development remains unexplored in socially mandarin vole (Microtus mandarinus). We found that PD increased anxiety-like behavior and attenuated social preference in adult males and females; decreased prelimbic cortex OT-immunoreactive fibers and paraventricular nucleus OT positive neurons; reduced levels of medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) OT receptor protein in females and OT receptor and V1a receptor protein in males. Intra-prelimbic cortical OT injections reversed anxiety-like behavior and social preferences affected by PD, whereas injections of OT and OT receptor antagonist blocked this reversal. These findings demonstrate that PD leads to increased anxiety-like behavior and attenuated social preferences with involvement of the mPFC OT system. The prelimbic cortex OT system may be an important target for the treatment of disorders related to early adverse experiences.