Fig. 2: Early postnatal administration of OXT rescued C-section mediated effects on social behaviour. | Neuropsychopharmacology

Fig. 2: Early postnatal administration of OXT rescued C-section mediated effects on social behaviour.

From: Early-life oxytocin attenuates the social deficits induced by caesarean-section delivery in the mouse

Fig. 2: Early postnatal administration of OXT rescued C-section mediated effects on social behaviour.

A High-dose OXT administration reversed C-section mediated effects on attachment behaviour in early-life. VB control x2(1) = 5.261, p = 0.022, n = 23; VB 0.2 OXT x2(1) = 8.909, p = 0.003, n = 22; VB 2 OXT x2(1) = 8.333, p = 0.004, n = 12; CS control x2(1) = 0.667, p = 0.414, n = 24; CS 0.2 OXT x2(1) = 0.391, p = 0.532, n = 23; CS 2 OXT x2(1) = 4.167, p = 0.041, n = 24 (one sample Chi-square test). Data are represented as median with interquartile range; whiskers represent min and max values. Male and Female offspring. *p < 0.05 for differences within the group. B Low-dose OXT increases the number of calls followed isolation-induced USV. There was no significant effect of the mode of delivery (x2 = 0.827; df = 1; p = 0.363). However, when pups were treated with low-dose OXT there was a significant increase on the number of calls emitted in both birth conditions (x2 = 44.995; df = 2; p < 0.001). ([VB control n = 44, VB 0.2 OT n = 43, VB 2 OT control n = 24, CS control n = 30, CS 0.2 OXT n = 29, CS 2 OXT n = 25]). Male and Female offspring. Kruskal–Wallis test followed by Mann–Whitney U test. Data are represented as median with interquartile range; whiskers represent min and max values. #p < 0.05 for treatment effect within the group. C Low-dose OXT rescued the deficit in the preference for social novelty in adult CS mice. VB control t (11) = 4.681, p = 0.001, n = 12; VB 0.2 OXT t (11) = 3.064, p = 0.011, n = 12; VB 2 OXT t (10) = 3.404, p = 0.007, n = 11; CS control t (11) = 0.594, p = 0.564, n = 12; CS 0.2 OXT t (11) = 3.671, p = 0.004, n = 12; CS 2 OXT t (10) = 0.970, p = 0.355, n = 12. Male offspring. Paired Student’s t test comparing interaction time with a familiar mouse to a novel mouse. Data are represented as Mean ± Standard Error of the Mean (S.E.M.). *p < 0.05 and **p < 0.01 for mouse vs. object (A–C) Offspring in each group is derived from three independent litters. OXT oxytocin, VB vaginal birth, CS C-section.

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