Oxytocin and vasopressin within the ventral and dorsal lateral septum modulate aggression in female rats

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 12; no. 1; p. 2900
• Main Authors: Oliveira, Vinícius Elias de Moura, Lukas, Michael, Wolf, Hannah Nora, Durante, Elisa, Lorenz, Alexandra, Mayer, Anna-Lena, Bludau, Anna, Bosch, Oliver J., Grinevich, Valery, Egger, Veronica, de Jong, Trynke R., Neumann, Inga D.
• Format: Journal Article Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 18-05-2021; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 13/51; 14/19; 42/109; 631/378/1457/3918; 631/378/3919; 631/378/3920; 64/86; 9/74; 96/63; Aggression; Aggression - drug effects; Aggression - physiology; Aggressive behavior; Animal behavior; Animals; Arginine Vasopressin - metabolism; Arginine Vasopressin - pharmacology; Argipressin; Female; female aggression; Females; Humanities and Social Sciences; Life sciences; Microdialysis; multidisciplinary; Neurons; Neurons - metabolism; Oxytocin; Oxytocin - metabolism; Oxytocin - pharmacology; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Receptors; Receptors, Oxytocin - metabolism; Receptors, Vasopressin - metabolism; Rodents; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sciences du vivant; Septal Nuclei - cytology; Septal Nuclei - drug effects; Septal Nuclei - metabolism; Septum; Social interactions; Social Isolation - psychology; Vasopressin; γ-Aminobutyric acid
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23064-5

In contrast to male rats, aggression in virgin female rats has been rarely studied. Here, we established a rat model of enhanced aggression in females using a combination of social isolation and aggression-training to specifically investigate the involvement of the oxytocin (OXT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) systems within the lateral septum (LS). Using neuropharmacological, optogenetic, chemogenetic as well as microdialysis approaches, we revealed that enhanced OXT release within the ventral LS (vLS), combined with reduced AVP release within the dorsal LS (dLS), is required for aggression in female rats. Accordingly, increased activity of putative OXT receptor-positive neurons in the vLS, and decreased activity of putative AVP receptor-positive neurons in the dLS, are likely to underly aggression in female rats. Finally, in vitro activation of OXT receptors in the vLS increased tonic GABAergic inhibition of dLS neurons. Overall, our data suggest a model showing that septal release of OXT and AVP differentially affects aggression in females by modulating the inhibitory tone within LS sub-networks.
Aggression in females is understudied in model organisms. Here, the authors establish a model of enhanced aggression in virgin female rats and show that oxytocin and vasopressin systems differentially modulate aggression in distinct neuronal populations of the lateral septum of female rats.