Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of AmericaOct 27, 2005

Widespread social problems but normal birth behavior in mice lacking oxytocin receptors

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Updated Mar 27, 2026

Abstract

Oxtr(-/-) mice exhibited normal parturition but had defects in lactation and maternal nurturing.

Oxtr(-/-) mice did not show obvious deficits in fertility or reproductive behavior.
Infant Oxtr(-/-) males emitted fewer ultrasonic vocalizations in response to social isolation compared to wild-type littermates.
Adult Oxtr(-/-) males displayed deficits in social discrimination and increased aggressive behavior.
Aggression levels were high in Oxt(-/-) males raised by Oxt(-/-) dams, but not in those raised by Oxt(+/-) dams.
The data indicate a potential developmental role of the OXT/OXTR system in influencing adult aggressive behavior.

Simplified

The oxytocin receptor (OXTR) and its ligand, oxytocin (OXT), regulate reproductive physiology (i.e., parturition and lactation) and sociosexual behaviors. To define the essential functions of OXTR, we generated mice with a null mutation in the Oxtr gene (Oxtr(-/-)) and compared them with OXT-deficient (Oxt(-/-)) mice. Oxtr(-/-) mice were viable and had no obvious deficits in fertility or reproductive behavior. Oxtr(-/-) dams exhibited normal parturition but demonstrated defects in lactation and maternal nurturing. Infant Oxtr(-/-) males emitted fewer ultrasonic vocalizations than wild-type littermates in response to social isolation. Adult Oxtr(-/-) males also showed deficits in social discrimination and elevated aggressive behavior. Ligand Oxt(-/-) males from Oxt(-/-) dams, but not from Oxt(+/-) dams, showed similar high levels of aggression. These data suggest a developmental role for the OXT/OXTR system in shaping adult aggressive behavior. Our studies demonstrate that OXTR plays a critical role in regulating several aspects of social behavior and may have important implications for developmental psychiatric disorders characterized by deficits in social behavior.

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Widespread social problems but normal birth behavior in mice lacking oxytocin receptors

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