Dominance status in hamsters is driven by interactions between arginine-vasopressin V1a, oxytocin (OT), and serotonin 1A (5-HT1A) receptors. Activation of V1a and OT receptors in the anterior hypothalamus (AH) increases aggression in males, while decreasing aggression in females. In contrast, activation of 5-HT1A receptors in the AH decreases aggression in males and increases aggression in females. The mechanism underlying these differences is not known. The purpose of this study was to determine if dominance status and sex interact to regulate V1a, OT, and 5-HT1A receptor binding. Same-sex hamsters (N = 47) were paired 12 times across six days in five min sessions. Brains from paired and unpaired (non-social control) hamsters were collected immediately after the last interaction and processed for receptor binding using autoradiography. Differences in V1a, OT, and 5-HT1A receptor binding densities were observed in several brain regions as a function of social status and sex. For example, in the AH, there was an interaction between sex and social status, such that V1a binding in subordinate males was lower than in subordinate females and V1a receptor density in dominant males was higher than in dominant females. There was also an interaction in 5-HT1A receptor binding, such that social pairing increased 5-HT1A binding in the AH of males but decreased 5-HT1A binding in females compared with unpaired controls. These results indicate that dominance status and sex play important roles in shaping the binding profiles of key receptor subtypes across the neural circuitry that regulates social behavior.

仓鼠的优势状态是由精氨酸-加压素 V1a、催产素 (OT) 和血清素 1A (5-HT1A) 受体之间的相互作用驱动的。下丘脑前部 (AH) 中 V1a 和 OT 受体的激活增加了男性的攻击性，同时降低了女性的攻击性。相反，AH 中 5-HT1A 受体的激活会降低男性的攻击性并增加女性的攻击性。这些差异背后的机制尚不清楚。本研究的目的是确定优势地位和性别是否相互作用以调节 V1a、OT 和 5-HT1A 受体结合。同性仓鼠（N = 47）在 6 天内在 5 分钟内配对 12 次。在最后一次互动后立即收集配对和未配对（非社会控制）仓鼠的大脑，并使用放射自显影进行受体结合处理。在几个大脑区域观察到 V1a、OT 和 5-HT1A 受体结合密度的差异作为社会地位和性别的函数。例如，在 AH 中，性别和社会地位之间存在相互作用，使得下属男性的 V1a 结合低于下属女性，而优势男性的 V1a 受体密度高于优势女性。5-HT1A 受体结合也存在相互作用，与未配对的对照组相比，社会配对增加了男性 AH 中的 5-HT1A 结合，但降低了女性中 5-HT1A 的结合。