Long term effects of chronic intranasal oxytocin on adult pair bonding behavior and brain glucose uptake in titi monkeys (Plecturocebus cupreus)

• Published in: Hormones and behavior 2022-04, Vol.140, p.105126-105126, Article 105126
• Main Authors: Razo, Rocío Arias-del, Velasco Vazquez, Maria de Lourdes, Turcanu, Petru, Legrand, Mathieu, Floch, Maeva, Weinstein, Tamara A.R., Goetze, Leana R., Freeman, Sara M., Baxter, Alexander, Witczak, Lynea R., Sahagún, Elizabeth, Berger, Trish, Jacob, Suma, Lawrence, Rebecca H., Rothwell, Emily S., Savidge, Logan E., Solomon, Marjorie, Mendoza, Sally P., Bales, Karen L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Administration, Intranasal; Animals; Autism; Behavior; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Callicebus; DNA-Binding Proteins; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Glucose; Intranasal oxytocin; Male; Oxytocin - pharmacology; PET scan; Prader-Willi syndrome; Social Behavior
• ISSN: 0018-506X; 1095-6867
• DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2022.105126

Intranasal oxytocin (IN OXT) administration has been proposed as a pharmacological treatment for a range of biomedical conditions including neurodevelopmental disorders. However, studies evaluating the potential long-lasting effects of chronic IN OXT during development are still scarce. Here we conducted a follow-up study of a cohort of adult titi monkeys that received intranasal oxytocin 0.8 IU/kg (n = 15) or saline (n = 14) daily for six months during their juvenile period (12 to 18 months of age), with the goal of evaluating the potential long-lasting behavioral and neural effects one year post-treatment. Subjects were paired with an opposite-sex mate at 30 months of age (one year post-treatment). We examined pair affiliative behavior in the home cage during the first four months and tested for behavioral components of pair bonding at one week and four months post-pairing. We assessed long-term changes in brain glucose uptake using 18FDG positron emission tomography (PET) scans. Our results showed that OXT-treated animals were more affiliative across a number of measures, including tail twining, compared to SAL treated subjects (tail twining is considered the “highest” type of affiliation in titi monkeys). Neuroimaging showed no treatment differences in glucose uptake between SAL and OXT-treated animals; however, females showed higher glucose uptake in whole brain at 23 months, and in both the whole brain and the social salience network at 33 months of age compared to males. Our results suggest that chronic IN OXT administration during development can have long-term effects on adult social behavior. [Display omitted] •Chronic intranasal oxytocin is a proposed treatment for various conditions.•We examined long-term effects of intranasal oxytocin exposure in monogamous titi monkeys.•Oxytocin-treated animals showed more tail-twining with their partners than controls.•Oxytocin-treated males were higher on a number of affiliative measures in various contexts.•Females had higher glucose uptake across the brain than males.