Anxiolytic and anti-stress effects of brain prolactin: Improved efficacy of antisense targeting of the prolactin receptor by molecular modeling

We provide the first evidence that prolactin is a neuromodulator of behavioral and neuroendocrine stress coping in the rat. In virgin female and male rats, intracerebral infusion of ovine prolactin (oPRL) into the lateral cerebral ventricle (intracerebroventricular) exerted an anxiolytic effect on the elevated plus-maze in a dose-dependent manner (0.1 and 1.0 μg/5 μl; p 0.05, not significant; adjustment of target position after mRNA modeling, 72%; p < 0.05). Taken together, prolactin acting at brain level has to be considered as a novel regulator of both emotionality and HPA axis reactivity