<i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> Infection Causes an Atypical Abundance of Oxytocin and Its Receptor in the Female Rat Brain

Infection with the protozoan <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> causes loss of innate fear of cat odors in both male and female rats. This behavioral change is presumed to reflect a parasitic manipulation that increases transmission of the parasite from its intermediate to definitive host. The hos...

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Autores principales:	Samira Abdulai-Saiku, Ajai Vyas
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	Apicomplexan parasites behavioral manipulation sex hypothalamus nonapeptides medial amygdala Medicine R
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/b09b033ffc3141a5ac72e299b0d6ef68
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:b09b033ffc3141a5ac72e299b0d6ef682021-11-25T18:38:42Z<i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> Infection Causes an Atypical Abundance of Oxytocin and Its Receptor in the Female Rat Brain10.3390/pathogens101114952076-0817https://doaj.org/article/b09b033ffc3141a5ac72e299b0d6ef682021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/10/11/1495https://doaj.org/toc/2076-0817Infection with the protozoan <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> causes loss of innate fear of cat odors in both male and female rats. This behavioral change is presumed to reflect a parasitic manipulation that increases transmission of the parasite from its intermediate to definitive host. The host behavioral change in male rats is dependent on gonadal steroids. In contrast, the loss of fear in female rats is not accompanied by greater gonadal steroids and cannot be rescued by gonadectomy. This disparity suggests that proximate mechanisms of the post infection host behavioral change in rats are sexually dimorphic. Here, we report that female rats infected with <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> exhibit greater abundance of messenger RNA for oxytocin and oxytocin receptors in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus and posterodorsal medial amygdala, respectively. Brain oxytocin is critical for sex-typical social and sexual behaviors in female rodents. The change in oxytocin and its receptor could potentially alter activity in the social salience circuits, leading to a reduction in defensive behaviors and an increase in approach to ambivalent environmental cues. Our results argue that sexually dimorphic neural substrates underpin sexually monomorphic host behavioral change in this host–parasite association.Samira Abdulai-SaikuAjai VyasMDPI AGarticleApicomplexan parasitesbehavioral manipulationsexhypothalamusnonapeptidesmedial amygdalaMedicineRENPathogens, Vol 10, Iss 1495, p 1495 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Apicomplexan parasites behavioral manipulation sex hypothalamus nonapeptides medial amygdala Medicine R
spellingShingle	Apicomplexan parasites behavioral manipulation sex hypothalamus nonapeptides medial amygdala Medicine R Samira Abdulai-Saiku Ajai Vyas <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> Infection Causes an Atypical Abundance of Oxytocin and Its Receptor in the Female Rat Brain
description	Infection with the protozoan <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> causes loss of innate fear of cat odors in both male and female rats. This behavioral change is presumed to reflect a parasitic manipulation that increases transmission of the parasite from its intermediate to definitive host. The host behavioral change in male rats is dependent on gonadal steroids. In contrast, the loss of fear in female rats is not accompanied by greater gonadal steroids and cannot be rescued by gonadectomy. This disparity suggests that proximate mechanisms of the post infection host behavioral change in rats are sexually dimorphic. Here, we report that female rats infected with <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> exhibit greater abundance of messenger RNA for oxytocin and oxytocin receptors in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus and posterodorsal medial amygdala, respectively. Brain oxytocin is critical for sex-typical social and sexual behaviors in female rodents. The change in oxytocin and its receptor could potentially alter activity in the social salience circuits, leading to a reduction in defensive behaviors and an increase in approach to ambivalent environmental cues. Our results argue that sexually dimorphic neural substrates underpin sexually monomorphic host behavioral change in this host–parasite association.
format	article
author	Samira Abdulai-Saiku Ajai Vyas
author_facet	Samira Abdulai-Saiku Ajai Vyas
author_sort	Samira Abdulai-Saiku
title	<i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> Infection Causes an Atypical Abundance of Oxytocin and Its Receptor in the Female Rat Brain
title_short	<i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> Infection Causes an Atypical Abundance of Oxytocin and Its Receptor in the Female Rat Brain
title_full	<i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> Infection Causes an Atypical Abundance of Oxytocin and Its Receptor in the Female Rat Brain
title_fullStr	<i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> Infection Causes an Atypical Abundance of Oxytocin and Its Receptor in the Female Rat Brain
title_full_unstemmed	<i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> Infection Causes an Atypical Abundance of Oxytocin and Its Receptor in the Female Rat Brain
title_sort	<i>toxoplasma gondii</i> infection causes an atypical abundance of oxytocin and its receptor in the female rat brain
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/b09b033ffc3141a5ac72e299b0d6ef68
work_keys_str_mv	AT samiraabdulaisaiku itoxoplasmagondiiiinfectioncausesanatypicalabundanceofoxytocinanditsreceptorinthefemaleratbrain AT ajaivyas itoxoplasmagondiiiinfectioncausesanatypicalabundanceofoxytocinanditsreceptorinthefemaleratbrain
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<i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> Infection Causes an Atypical Abundance of Oxytocin and Its Receptor in the Female Rat Brain

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