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ABSTRACT
Developmental changes in levels of oxytocin in the blood and the pituitary gland and in oxytocin responses to oxytocin-releasing stimuli were investigated in the rat from the fetus close to term to the 40-day-old young adult. The oxytocin content of the pituitary gland rose gradually from fetuses of 21 days of gestation to 40-day-old rats. Pituitary oxytocin levels expressed in terms of body weight also increased up to day 25 after birth and declined slightly thereafter. In contrast, serum concentrations of oxytocin increased from day 21 of pregnancy up to day 5 after birth but were stable thereafter. Oxytocin levels in both blood and the pituitary gland were equal in 23-day-old fetuses and 1-day-old infants born on day 22 of pregnancy. There was no difference in serum and pituitary oxytocin levels in newborn pups and unborn littermates of day 22 or 23 of gestation. The i.p. injection of hypertonic saline induced a significant increase in serum oxytocin levels on day 5 and later, but no effect in the fetus on day 22 of gestation and in the 1-day-old infant. The responsiveness to the osmotic stimuli increased after 5 days of age. The i.p. injection of diethyl-dithiocarbamate, a noradrenaline synthesis inhibitor, or phenobarbitone was effective in raising blood oxytocin levels only in rats older than 10 and 20 days of age respectively. These findings, that a gradual increase in oxytocin levels in both blood and the pituitary gland without an apparent increase in its release and the absence of a pituitary response to oxytocin-releasing stimuli during the perinatal period, do not support a role for fetal oxytocin in the initiation of labour in the rat.
J. Endocr. (1985) 106, 311–316
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Abstract
In this study arginine vasopressin (AVP) and oxytocin (OT) receptors have been characterized in the brushtail possum. AVP receptors were characterized using [3H]AVP and the radioiodinated AVP V1a receptor antagonist 125I-labelled [(C6H5-CH2CO)-O-methyl-d-Tyr-Phe-Gln-Asn-Arg-Pro-Arg-Tyr- NH2] while OT receptors were characterized using the radioiodinated OT receptor antagonist 125I-labelled d(CH2)5[Tyr(Me)2,Thr4,Orn8, Tyr-NH2 9]-vasotocin. The receptor affinities and densities have been compared with the rat AVP and OT receptors. Low densities of OT receptors were present in the possum ovary and kidney. High densities of AVP-binding sites were found in the possum adrenal, testis, mesenteric artery, ovary and renal medulla and lower densities in the possum liver. The AVP-binding sites showed marked differences in ligand-binding characteristics from the rat AVP V1a and V2 receptors. Receptor affinities were similar between tissues, except for a distinctly lower value in the renal medulla. It is concluded that the brushtail possum expresses AVP receptors with distinct ligand specificities from those of the rat AVP V1a and V2 receptors.
Journal of Endocrinology (1995) 144, 19–29
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Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the presence of high-affinity oxytocin-binding sites (putative oxytocin receptors) in the cervix of the non-pregnant ewe. [3H]Oxytocin binding to the peripheral layers of cervical tissue (comprising the serosal layer and the least dense collagenous and muscular layers) and the remaining dense collagenous cervical tissue were studied separately. [3H] Oxytocin-binding sites were detected in membrane fractions prepared from both of these regions, but binding to the peripheral cervix was variable and binding site concentrations were low, hence these were not characterized further. A high-affinity oxytocin-binding site, having a dissociation constant of 1·8 nmol/l, was characterized in the dense collagenous regions of the cervix of ewes killed during the oestrous period. Similar dissociation constants were determined for [Arg8]-vasopressin and the oxytocin-specific agonist [Thr4, Gly7]-oxytocin in competition studies.
[3H] Oxytocin binding to peripheral cervical tissue and to the dense collagenous cervix was generally low or undetectable during the luteal phase, but increased in both tissues around the time of luteolysis. Although specific binding to both tissues was variable during the oestrous period, it was higher at this time than during the luteal phase. [3H] Oxytocin-binding site concentrations were also found to be higher within the inner dense collagenous cervix of oestrous ewes than of pregnant, ovariectomized or anoestrous animals. During the oestrous cycle, oxytocin-binding site concentrations reached a maximum in the dense collagenous cervical tissue on the day of oestrus (141·8 ±44 (s.e.m.) fmol/mg protein), showing a general decline during the following days back to luteal phase values. This compared with concentrations of 513·3 ±132·1 and 216·1 ± 13·9 fmol/mg protein, measured for comparative purposes in endometrial and myometrial membrane preparations, respectively, on the day of oestrus in the same group of ewes. However, in membrane preparations of peripheral cervical tissue higher concentrations were measured on day 14 than on the following 2 days and maximal concentrations were not reached until the day after oestrus (52·7 ± 4·2 fmol/mg protein). Concentrations were maintained at similar values during the subsequent 2 days and significant specific binding was still measurable in both regions of the cervix on day 5.
The localization of oxytocin-binding sites within dense collagenous cervical tissue was investigated autoradiographically using the 125I-labelled specific oxytocin receptor antagonist [1(β-mercapto-β,β-cyclopentamethylene propionic acid), 2-(ortho-methyl)-Tyr2, Thr4, Orn8, Tyr9 -NH2]-vasotocin. The only clear specific labelling was localized to the luminal epithelium of the uterine section of the cervix of oestrous ewes, with labelling in ewes in the luteal phase clearly reduced or absent.
The results demonstrate the presence of a high-affinity oxytocin-binding site within the cervix of the oestrous ewe which is associated with secretory cells and which undergoes similar changes in concentration during the oestrous cycle to uterine oxytocin receptor sites. The significance of this novel putative site of oxytocin action remains to be established.
Journal of Endocrinology (1994) 142, 397–405
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ABSTRACT
Concentrations of oxytocin in corpora lutea from pregnant and non-pregnant sheep rose during luteinization to peak between days 5 and 9 after oestrus before falling to low levels on days 12 and 14. Concentrations of the 608-base mRNA encoding the oxytocin-neurophysin prohormone, measured by Northern blotting using a cRNA probe, were highest before day 5, and fell to low levels by day 9. The decline in oxytocin during the second half of the oestrous cycle and in pregnancy could therefore be accounted for by reduced luteal concentrations of oxytocin-neurophysin mRNA. The rate of decline in prohormone mRNA concentration between days 3 and 16 followed first order kinetics, suggesting that gene expression ceased early in the cycle. The lag between peak oxytocin-neurophysin mRNA and peak oxytocin concentrations may represent the time taken for post-translational processing of the prohormone.
J. Endocr. (1988) 117, 409–414
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SUMMARY
The presence of a substance in the jugular blood of lactating women with the chromatographic, electrophoretic, and pharmacological properties of oxytocin has been demonstrated.
The concentration of this substance in the jugular plasma, during suckling, was equivalent to 12–25 μ-u./ml. synthetic oxytocin.
These figures are in good agreement with those calculated from the rate of infusion of oxytocin necessary to elicit milk ejections similar to that produced during suckling.
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SUMMARY
In the presence of 62 μu. or more of [3H]oxytocin/ml there was specific uptake of oxytocin by lactating rat mammary glands in vitro within 400 s under conditions similar to those used in the biossay of oxytocin with rat mammary strips in vitro. This uptake was blocked by pre-incubation with non-radioactive oxytocin. A similar, rapid, specific uptake of oxytocin by uterine tissue in vitro was observed. There was no specific uptake of oxytocin by non-target tissues such as heart and skeletal muscle. Measurements of inulin and water spaces of the tissues showed that, over these short periods of time, diffusion into mammary tissue was much less than into the other tissues. The ratios of uptake of [3H]oxytocin: [3H]inulin and [3H]oxytocin: [3H]water were much higher for mammary tissue than those for other tissues used, indicating a preferential (tissue-specific) uptake. Uterine tissue from stilboestrol-primed rats also showed a preferential uptake of oxytocin, though not as great as that for mammary tissue. It is suggested that the specific uptake of oxytocin by mammary and uterine tissue is due to binding to specific receptors.
There was a variation in the specific uptake of oxytocin with the day of lactation of the mammary tissue, and specific uptake was only observed after the 8th day. This could indicate synthesis of receptors during lactation. In a similar way, synthesis of receptors may occur in the non-pregnant uterus due to the influence of exogenous oestrogens, leading to the increase in specific uptake by non-pregnant uterine tissue for oestrogen-primed rats. There is some evidence of more than one type of binding site for oxytocin. Biological action may only be associated with one of these sites.
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SUMMARY
(1) Three daily injections of stilboestrol resulted in a thirteenfold increase in uterine sensitivity to oxytocin compared with that of uteri from rats in normal oestrus. These sensitive uteri have been used extensively for routine bioassay of oxytocin. The index of precision was 0·055 in six 'trial' assays.
(2) The results are discussed in relation to other sensitive assay procedures for oxytocin. The present method is as sensitive and accurate but more simple and economical.
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A specific radioimmunoassay for oxytocin has been established with a sensitivity of 0·8 pg/tube. This assay has been applied to the measurement of oxytocin in serial samples of peripheral plasma and amniotic fluid from pregnant rhesus monkeys, collected at weekly intervals by venepuncture and amniocentesis. Concentrations of oxytocin in both fluids were generally low and showed no trends throughout the latter half of gestation.
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Abstract
The entire coding region of an ovine endometrial oxytocin receptor (OTR) cDNA was generated by PCR, subcloned into the SV40 major late promoter expression vector pSVLJ and transiently expressed in Cos-7 cells. A specific OTR antagonist, 125I-labelled d(CH2)5 [Tyr(Me)2,Thr4,Tyr-NH2 9]-vasotocin (OTA), was used to describe the binding kinetics of the expressed receptor which had a K d of 4·5 nm and Bmax of 2·4 nm/mg protein (6·8 × 105 receptor molecules/transfected cell). The functional properties of the expressed OTR were determined by measuring oxytocin-induced phosphoinositide (PI) hydrolysis. Oxytocin increased PI turnover in OTR transfected cells fourfold in excess of residual endogenous activity, and stimulated phospholipase C (PLC) activity in a dose- and time-dependent manner, confirming that the expressed OTR cDNA was functional. Arginine vasopressin also stimulated PI turnover in a dose-dependent manner; thresholds of responses to oxytocin and arginine vasopressin were 10−9 m and 10−7 m respectively. OTA did not increase PI turnover and competitively inhibited the oxytocin-induced response. Direct activation of the pathway by aluminium fluoride and guanosine (3′-Othio)-triphosphate (GTPγS) confirmed that the OTR was G-protein linked. Co-incubation of GTPγS with oxytocin shifted the PI-response threshold from 10−7 m to 10−9 m and significantly increased the level of response, suggesting that maximum PI turnover was agonist-dependent. The G-protein involved in mediating the signal transduction pathway was pertussis toxin-insensitive and, therefore, probably a member of the Gq subfamily. The PLC inhibitor, U73122, had no effect on oxytocin-induced PI turnover, consistent with the response in endometrial tissue. These data suggest that the signalling pathway mediated by expressed OTR is similar to that attributed to OTR occupancy in ovine endometrium.
Journal of Endocrinology (1996) 149, 389–396
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Abstract
The renal effects of arginine vasopressin and oxytocin were studied in the conscious unrestrained rat infused with 0·077 m NaCl. Peptides were infused at rates of 24 and 160 pmol/min (vasopressin) or 30 and 200 pmol/min (oxytocin) either alone or as a combination of the two lower or two higher doses. The rates of infusion were selected to give ratios of oxytocin:vasopressin similar to those seen in the plasma of euhydrated and dehydrated rats.
Vasopressin produced dose-dependent antidiuretic and natriuretic responses, the natriuresis commencing after 15–30 min infusion. Oxytocin produced dose-dependent diuretic and natriuretic responses, the natriuresis commencing within the first 15 min of infusion. Combined infusion of vasopressin and oxytocin produced dose-dependent antidiuretic responses which were comparable to those seen with vasopressin alone. The natriuretic response from combined infusion at the higher rate appeared to have the greater magnitude for individual 15-min periods of the vasopressin response combined with the longer duration of the oxytocin response. Although the total natriuretic response was therefore greater, this difference failed to reach significance.
Only the higher rates of infusion of vasopressin and oxytocin significantly increased the clearance of sodium, by 53 ± 23 and 62 ± 18% and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) by 23 ± 4 and 23 ± 4% respectively. The clearance of sodium during the combined hormone infusion was significantly greater (109 ± 21%), while the rise in GFR at 23 ± 5% was comparable to that seen when each hormone was given separately. Both fractional excretion of sodium and potassium excretion were also significantly elevated by this combined infusion, suggesting an additional tubular component to the response. Although no synergistic effect of neurohypophysial hormones on the antidiuresis was found in the conscious rat, they may act together to promote sodium excretion
Journal of Endocrinology (1995) 144, 441–448
