Postnatal oxytocin treatment and postnatal stroking of rats reduce blood pressure in adulthood

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of postnatal oxytocin (OT) treatment and postnatal stroking on blood pressure and heart rate in adult rats. For this purpose, rats were treated subcutaneously with OT (1 mg/kg) once a day on days 1–14 after birth, or exposed to stroking on the ventral side of the abdomen for 5 min once a day on days 1–7 after birth. Blood pressure and heart rate were measured at the age of 7–8 months. The OT-treated male rats had a significantly reduced diastolic blood pressure in adulthood (p<0.001), and in the female rats, both systolic (p<0.01) and diastolic blood pressures (p<0.001) were significantly lower compared to controls given saline postnatally. OT reduced blood pressure also in prenatally stressed female rats, which had a significantly higher blood pressure in adulthood compared to control rats that had not been exposed to prenatal stress. Also, the postnatal stroking reduced diastolic blood pressure in adulthood (p<0.05). No changes in heart rate were found. In conclusion, both postnatal OT treatment and postnatal stroking reduced blood pressure in adulthood. In addition, in female rats, OT reduced the increase in blood pressure caused by prenatal stress.