title: Reduced levels of vasopressin and reduced behavioral modulation of oxytocin in psychotic disorders.
abstract: Oxytocin (OT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) exert robust influence on social affiliation and specific cognitive processes in healthy individuals. Abnormalities in these neuroendocrine systems have been observed in psychotic disorders, but their relation to impairments in behavioral domains that these endocrines modulate is not well understood. We compared abnormalities of OT and AVP serum concentrations in probands with schizophrenia (n = 57), schizoaffective disorder (n = 34), and psychotic bipolar disorder (n = 75); their first-degree relatives without a history of psychosis (n = 61, 43, 91, respectively); and healthy controls (n = 66) and examined their association with emotion processing and cognition. AVP levels were lower in schizophrenia (P = .002) and bipolar probands (P = .03) and in relatives of schizophrenia probands (P = .002) compared with controls. OT levels did not differ between groups. Familiality estimates were robust for OT (h(2) = 0.79, P = 3.97e-15) and AVP (h(2) = 0.78, P = 3.93e-11). Higher levels of OT were associated with better emotion recognition (β = 0.40, P < .001) and general neuropsychological function (β = 0.26, P = .04) in healthy controls as expected but not in any proband or relative group. In schizophrenia, higher OT levels were related to greater positive symptom severity. The dissociation of OT levels and behavioral function in all proband and relative groups suggests that risk and illness factors associated with psychotic disorders are not related to reduced OT levels but to a disruption in the ability of physiological levels of OT to modulate social cognition and neuropsychological function. Decreased AVP levels may be a marker of biological vulnerability in schizophrenia because alterations were seen in probands and relatives, and familiality was high.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL; lrubin@psych.uic.edu.
authors.forename: Leah H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Rubin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC;
authors.forename: C Sue
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL; Department of Pharmacy Practice, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL;
authors.forename: Jeffrey R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Bishop
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC;
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pournajafi-Nazarloo
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL;
authors.forename: Lauren L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Drogos
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL;
authors.forename: S Kristian
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON;
authors.forename: Anthony C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Ruocco
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL;
authors.forename: Sarah K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Keedy
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL;
authors.forename: James L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Reilly
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA;
authors.forename: Matcheri S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Keshavan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Neurobiology, Yale University and Olin Neuropsychiatric Research Center, Hartford, CT;
authors.forename: Godfrey D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Pearlson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX.
authors.forename: Carol A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Tamminga
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL;
authors.forename: Elliot S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Gershon
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX.
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Sweeney
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000341:Affective Disorders, Psychotic / Q000097:blood / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001127:Arginine Vasopressin / Q000097:blood*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005149:Facial Expression; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000097:blood*; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000097:blood / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000097:blood / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012938:Social Perception
chemical_list: D001127:Arginine Vasopressin; D010121:Oxytocin
keywords: bipolar disorder; emotion recognition; oxytocin; schizophrenia; vasopressin