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Study · Animal study (in vivo) · prairie vole · 2014

4 results

Neonatal melanocortin receptor agonist treatment reduces play fighting and promotes adult attachment in prairie voles in a sex-dependent manner.

Barrett CE, Modi ME, Zhang BC, Walum H, Inoue K, Young LJ

Neuropharmacology9 Jun 2014Cited by 27 (Europe PMC)

PMID24923239 (opens in a new tab)PMCIDPMC4158739 (opens in a new tab)DOI10.1016/j.neuropharm.2014.05.041 (opens in a new tab)PepBankPUB-24923239
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Summary

The text of this summary is not shown here, because the article license does not allow reuse. Read it at the source (opens in a new tab)

Text rights: Publisher copyright. Results still quote short attributed sentences.

Results from this study4

4 results from studies that gave the peptide. No result from this study comes from people.

  1. 01AnimalAnimal study (in vivo)Efficacy outcome

    In prairie voles, neonatal MTII treatment reduced initiated play fighting bouts in juvenile males compared with control males.

    In plain wordsIn prairie voles, young males given melanotan II after birth started fewer play fights than control males.

    Peptide
    Melanotan II
    Outcome
    DecreaseInitiated play fighting bouts in juvenile males
    Study

    prairie volen: not reported in source

    Comparator
    Saline-treated control males
    Outcome group
    Social behavior and cognition · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    10 mg/kg daily · subcutaneous · postnatal days 1-7As given in this study (prairie vole).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Neonatally-treated males displayed a reduction in initiated play fighting bouts as juveniles compared to control males.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    Male and female voles were given daily subcutaneous injections of 10 mg/kg MTII or saline between postnatal days (PND) 1-7.
  2. 02AnimalAnimal study (in vivo)Efficacy outcome

    In prairie voles, neonatal MTII exposure facilitated partner preference formation in adult females after a brief cohabitation.

    In plain wordsIn prairie voles, female voles given melanotan II after birth formed partner preferences more easily as adults.

    Peptide
    Melanotan II
    Outcome
    IncreasePartner preference formation in adult females
    Study

    prairie volen: not reported in source

    Comparator
    Saline-treated controls
    Outcome group
    Social behavior and cognition · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    10 mg/kg daily · subcutaneous · postnatal days 1-7As given in this study (prairie vole).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Neonatal exposure to MTII facilitated partner preference formation in adult females
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    Male and female voles were given daily subcutaneous injections of 10 mg/kg MTII or saline between postnatal days (PND) 1-7.
  3. 03AnimalAnimal study (in vivo)Efficacy outcome

    In prairie voles, neonatal MTII exposure did not facilitate partner preference formation in adult males.

    In plain wordsIn prairie voles, male voles given melanotan II after birth did not form partner preferences more easily as adults.

    Peptide
    Melanotan II
    Outcome
    No significant changePartner preference formation in adult males
    Study

    prairie volen: not reported in source

    Comparator
    Saline-treated controls
    Outcome group
    Social behavior and cognition · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    10 mg/kg daily · subcutaneous · postnatal days 1-7As given in this study (prairie vole).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Neonatal exposure to MTII facilitated partner preference formation in adult females, but not males, after a brief cohabitation with an opposite-sex partner.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    Male and female voles were given daily subcutaneous injections of 10 mg/kg MTII or saline between postnatal days (PND) 1-7.
  4. 04AnimalAnimal study (in vivo)Mechanism

    In prairie voles aged 6-7 days, acute MTII injection caused a significant burst of EGR-1 immunoreactivity in hypothalamic oxytocin, vasopressin and corticotrophin releasing factor neurons.

    In plain wordsIn young prairie voles, one melanotan II injection switched on several types of hypothalamic nerve cells.

    Peptide
    Melanotan II
    Outcome
    IncreaseEGR-1 immunoreactivity in hypothalamic oxytocin, vasopressin and CRF neurons
    Study

    prairie volen: not reported in source

    Outcome group
    Receptor activity and mechanism · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Acute MTII injection elicited a significant burst of the immediate early gene EGR-1 immunoreactivity in hypothalamic OT, vasopressin, and corticotrophin releasing factor neurons, when tested in PND 6-7 animals.

AI wrote and checked these results. AI can make mistakes, so check important results against the source.

Version history

PepBank keeps every version of the data on this study. Status changes from Retraction Watch, Europe PMC and Crossref are listed with their source.

  1. Version 3Current

    10 Oct 2026, 09:43 UTC

    Study results updated

  2. Version 2

    9 Oct 2026, 03:04 UTC

    Study data updated · source update from Europe PMC

  3. Version 1

    9 Oct 2026, 02:50 UTC

    First added · source update from Europe PMC

Subjects

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