Differential lasting inhibitory effects of oxytocin and food-deprivation on mediobasal hypothalamic polydipsia

This study analyzed the effects of systemic oxytocin (OT) administration and 48-h food deprivation on the polydipsia, hyperphagia, and polyuria produced by electrolytic lesions of the mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH). In a first experiment, food deprivation transiently decreased the polydipsic response, whereas food deprivation plus OT administration reduced the water intake and urine excretion of polydipsic animals but not their subsequent food intake. These results were replicated in a second experiment (20 days), which also showed that OT potentiates sodium excretion, reducing the estimated plasma sodium levels in food-deprived MBH-lesioned animals. Administration of OT on day 21 to food-deprived (from day 20 to 22) animals (second period of the experiment 2) blocked the differences in water intake and urine excretion volumes between MBH and control animals on days 21 and 22. Subsequently, this 48-h food deprivation induced an additional and lasting (days 23–40) reduction in the intake of water and food of MBH animals. According to these findings, OT administration and/or food deprivation may potentially exert enduring reducing effects on the polydipsia, polyuria, and hyperphagia of MBH syndrome.

► Median eminence anodic lesions induce a polyuric, polydipsic, and hyperphagic syndrome.
► We examined the differential effects of oxytocin administration and food deprivation.
► Both together have an enduring positive effect on these abnormal behaviors.
► However, the time variable (initial vs. chronic phase) appears to be a modulating factor.