LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Oxytocin: Rats
built 606 days ago
Oxytocin receptor mRNA was detected in heart sections with a synthetic oligonucleotide probe according to the protocol described by Wisden and Morris (31). Frozen, dissected hearts were mounted on cryostat chucks, and 10-µm-thick sections were prepared. The sections were thaw-mounted on precleaned, poly-L-lysine-coated slides, fixed for 5min in ice-cold 4% paraformaldehyde, then washed both for 5min in PBS and 70% ethanol and stored in 95% ethanol at 4°C in a cold room until required. The oligonucleotide probe (0.3pmol) was labeled by terminal transferase (Life Technologies) with [-32P]dCTP of 2500Ci/mM (Amersham) using a 30:1 molar ratio of isotope to oligonucleotide. The oligonucleotide probe was purified on a Sephadex G-25 spin column. The probes of activity between 100,000 and 200,000dpm µl1 32P were diluted to 0.3pmol/5,000 µl in hybridization buffer containing 50% formamide, 4× standard saline citrate (SSC), and 10% dextran sulfate.
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Oxytocin is responsible for the contractions that bring about delivery, by thinning and dilating the cervix, and applying pressure that helps the baby descend in the pelvis. It is ... important after delivery, as it continues to cause the myometrium to contract. These contractions help constrict the blood vessels that are sending blood to the uterus at the time of childbirth at the rate of a liter a minute!
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Oxytocin-containing neurones in the PVN are activated during different stressful conditions, as indicated by changes in immediate early gene expression in this region (Ceccatelli et al. 1989; Hatakeyama et al. 1996). Antinociceptive effects caused by stress have been well documented in both rats and mice (Hayes et al. 1978; Porro & Carli, 1988; Mogil et al. 1996). Lesions of the PVN reduce stress-induced antinociception of the spinal nociceptive tail-flick reflex (Truesdell & Bodnar, 1987), which suggests that oxytocin could participate in stress-induced analgesia.
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