Oxytocin-mediated social enrichment promotes longer telomeres and novelty seeking

• Main Authors: Jamshid Faraji, Mitra Karimi, Nabiollah Soltanpour, Alireza Moharrerie, Zahra Rouhzadeh, Hamid lotfi, S Abedin Hosseini, S Yaghoob Jafari, Shabnam Roudaki, Reza Moeeini, Gerlinde AS Metz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: eLife Sciences Publications Ltd 2018-11-01
• Series: eLife
• Subjects: social enrichment; oxytocin; telomere length; novelty seeking; corridor field task; oxytocin antagonist
• Online Access: https://elifesciences.org/articles/40262

The quality of social relationships is a powerful determinant of lifetime health. Here, we explored the impact of social experiences on circulating oxytocin (OT) concentration, telomere length (TL), and novelty-seeking behaviour in male and female rats. Prolonged social housing raised circulating OT levels in both sexes while elongating TL only in females. Novelty-seeking behaviour in females was more responsive to social housing and increased OT levels than males. The OT antagonist (OT ANT) L-366,509 blocked the benefits of social housing in all conditions along with female-specific TL erosion and novelty-seeking deficit. Thus, females seem more susceptible than males to genetic and behavioural changes when the secretion of endogenous OT in response to social life is interrupted. Social enrichment may, therefore, provide a therapeutic avenue to promote stress resiliency and chances of healthy aging across generations.