# Investigating the role of oxytocin signaling in the social regulation of eating

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · 2023 · $47,694

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
 Oxytocin is an evolutionarily conserved neuropeptide primarily produced and secreted from the
paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei of the hypothalamus. Widespread expression of the oxytocin receptor
(OXTR) across various brain regions allows oxytocin to mediate a wide range of effects on behavior. Though
classically known for its functions in mediating social and maternal behavior, a growing body of evidence from
both animal models and human studies indicates that the neuropeptide oxytocin is a potent anorexigenic signal
and a promising target for obesity pharmacotherapy development [1-4]. Indeed, intranasal oxytocin for weight
loss is currently under investigation in an active clinical trial [5]. The interest in the oxytocin system as a target
for obesity treatment is based, in part, on findings showing that intranasal oxytocin reduces intake of palatable
foods in humans [6], and that these effects are more potent in participants with obesity [7]. A deeper
understanding of the neural pathways and behavioral processes mediating oxytocin's effects on food intake
and food-motivated behavior is imperative given the clinical potential for this system.
 Oxytocin has been most widely studied for its influence on social behavior. Food intake regulation is
heavily influenced by social factors in both humans and rodents, yet the extent that oxytocin's influence on
these two related fundamental behaviors is interconnected has not been previously investigated. Further,
many of the behaviors modulated by oxytocin show sexual dimorphism, including both social behaviors and
food intake control [8, 9]. Here we focus on the dorsal hippocampus (HPCd) as a candidate brain region where
these functions overlap as HPCd oxytocin signaling facilitates social memory in sexually dimorphic ways [10]
and this region has been recently linked to food intake control [11]. Our preliminary results show that HPCd
oxytocin delivery in male rats reduces intake when isolated in the home cage, yet increases food intake in the
presence of a familiar, but not an unfamiliar conspecific. Aim 1 experiments build off these findings using a
novel social eating paradigm and both pharmacological and virogenetic approaches in males and females to
investigate how HPCd OXTR signaling modulates food intake in social context- and sex-specific ways. Our
additional preliminary data reveal that central oxytocin enhances social transmission of food preference
(STFP) learning in a conspecific familiarity-dependent manner. A recent paper identified a role for the HPCd in
mediating STFP learning through dopamine signaling [12]. Aim 2 experiments will build off these findings to
investigate whether the HPCd is a site of action mediating oxytocin's effects on STFP (Aim 2), and will utilize
pharmacological, neuroanatomical, and in vivo imaging strategy to assess the extent to which oxytocin and
dopamine systems interact to regulate eating in a social context- and sex-dependent ma...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10750734
- **Project number:** 1F31DK137484-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Jessica Rea
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $47,694
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2023-07-01 → 2026-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10750734

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10750734, Investigating the role of oxytocin signaling in the social regulation of eating (1F31DK137484-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10750734. Licensed CC0.

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