Leptin and Oxytocin Receptor Antagonist Effects

Recombinant mouse leptin (#498-OB, R&D Systems, Minneapolis, MN, USA) was dissolved in sterile saline at a concentration of 1.0 mg/ml and administered intraperitoneally (i.p.) at a dose of 1.0 mg/kg or 5.0 mg/kg body weight. For behavioral tests, leptin was administrated at a dose of 1.0 mg/kg, which has been used in our previous studies as an effective dose to produce behavioral effects including social interaction [25 (link), 26 (link), 28 (link), 29 (link), 52 , 53 ]. A high dose of leptin (5.0 mg/kg) was chosen to determine its effects on gene expression, as it has been reported to effectively induce downstream signaling, i.e., p-STAT3 and p-AKT [54 (link), 55 (link)]. A non-peptide selective oxytocin receptor antagonist (OTR-A), L-368,899 hydrochloride (#2641, Tocris Biosciences, Minneapolis, MN, USA) [56 (link), 57 ], was dissolved in sterile saline at a concentration of 2.0 mg/ml and administered by i.p. injections at a dose of 5.0 mg/kg body weight [58 (link)].