title: Sex-specific associations between plasma oxytocin levels and schizotypal personality features in healthy individuals.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Oxytocin (OT) has been shown to play a crucial role in the biology of social interaction. Sex differences associated with this neuropeptide system have been reported. OT may serves as an indicator of interpersonal stress, especially in women. The aim of this study was to investigate the sex-specific associations between plasma OT levels and schizotypal personality features, especially in interpersonal dimension, in healthy individuals.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ninety six healthy participants, including 41 males and 55 females, were recruited. Fasting blood samples were analyzed by enzyme immunoassay of OT. The Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) was administered. Mann-Whitney U test was used to test the difference between male and female. Spearman's ρ correlation analysis (two-tailed) was carried out to examine the association between OT level and SPQ score.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results showed that OT level was significantly positively correlated with total score and interpersonal dysfunction dimensional scores of the SPQ only in females.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the causal relationship remains unclear, our findings provide further evidence to support the sexual dimorphic role of OT in interpersonal biology. Moreover, the effect of sex difference also is taken into consideration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, 138 Sheng Li Road, North Dist., Tainan 70403, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Douliou Branch, Yunlin, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsiu Chen
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, 138 Sheng Li Road, North Dist., Tainan 70403, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Mei Hung
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Chi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, 138 Sheng Li Road, North Dist., Tainan 70403, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Douliou Branch, Yunlin, Taiwan; Addiction Research Center, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Lan-Ting
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, 138 Sheng Li Road, North Dist., Tainan 70403, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Douliou Branch, Yunlin, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsin Chun
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, 138 Sheng Li Road, North Dist., Tainan 70403, Taiwan; Addiction Research Center, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: I Hui
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, 138 Sheng Li Road, North Dist., Tainan 70403, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Douliou Branch, Yunlin, Taiwan; Addiction Research Center, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Kao Chin
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, 138 Sheng Li Road, North Dist., Tainan 70403, Taiwan; Addiction Research Center, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yen Kuang
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, 138 Sheng Li Road, North Dist., Tainan 70403, Taiwan; Addiction Research Center, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan. Electronic address: chenps@mail.ncku.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Po See
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000097:blood*; D012569:Schizotypal Personality Disorder / Q000097:blood*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010121:Oxytocin
keywords: Interpersonal; Oxytocin; Schizotypal personality; Sex