background: phytoestrogens, a group of plant-derived polyphenolic compounds have recently come into considerable attention due to the increasing information on their potential adverse effects in human health. some of phytoestrogens show estrogenic activity that may be carcinogenic for human. in the present study, we investigated the transcriptional effects of variety of phytoestrogens on the bo...

The distribution of oxytocin binding sites in the brain is highly variable among mammals. Using two species of microtine rodents (voles) with strikingly different patterns of oxytocin binding sites in the brain, we demonstrate that these differences are due to differences in region specific gene expression and not post-translational processing. The distribution of oxytocin receptor mRNA closely...

BACKGROUND Oxytocin, a neurohypophyseal neuropeptide, is a potential mediator and regulator of drug addiction. However, the cellular mechanisms of oxytocin in drug seeking remain unknown. METHODS In the present study, we used a self-administration/reinstatement model to study the effects of oxytocin on cocaine seeking and its potential interaction with glutamate function at the receptor level...

In adult females many of the effects of the neuropeptide oxytocin are steroid, and especially estrogen dependent. Here we demonstrate for the first time that neonatal manipulation of oxytocin can affect the expression of estrogen receptor alpha. On the first day of postnatal life male and female prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) were randomly assigned to receive one of four treatments; (a) 5...

OBJECTIVE To investigate gene expressions for neurohypophyseal and ovarian hormones as well as their receptors in the endometrium of women with primary dysmenorrhoea and healthy subjects at ovulation. STUDY DESIGN A group of eight women with moderate to severe dysmenorrhoea and eight healthy subjects were compared in parallel between 18 and 35 years of age, regularly menstruating, non-overwei...

Cellular mechanisms for antinociception produced by oxytocin in the spinal dorsal horn have not yet been investigated thoroughly. We examined how oxytocin affects synaptic transmission in substantia gelatinosa neurons, which play a pivotal role in regulating nociceptive transmission, by applying the whole-cell patch-clamp technique to the substantia gelatinosa neurons of adult rat spinal cord s...

Background: Phytoestrogens, a group of plant-derived polyphenolic compounds have recently come into considerable attention due to the increasing information on their potential adverse effects in human health. Some of phytoestrogens show estrogenic activity that may be carcinogenic for human. In the present study, we investigated the transcriptional effects of variety of phytoestrogens&nbsp...

This study was performed to determine the action mode of oxytocin antagonist. In Study 1, the duration of in vivo action of oxytocin antagonist I (AI) was examined. After infusing AI, oxytocin was given and repeated every hour for 5 hr. Uterine activities were monitored with a polygraph. Study 2 determined the effect of AI on uterine oxytocin receptor number (Rn) and binding affinity (Kd). AI t...

BACKGROUND During pregnancy asthma may remain stable, improve or worsen. The factors underlying the deleterious effect of pregnancy on asthma remain unknown. Oxytocin is a neurohypophyseal protein that regulates a number of central and peripheral responses such as uterine contractions and milk ejection. Additional evidence suggests that oxytocin regulates inflammatory processes in other tissues...

The oxytocinergic system is critically involved in the regulation of maternal behavior, which includes maternal aggression. Because aggression has been linked to anxiety, we investigated the maternal aggression and the role of brain oxytocin in lactating Wistar rats selectively bred for high anxiety-related behavior (HAB) or low anxiety-related behavior (LAB) during the 10 min maternal defense ...