title: Associations between oxytocin receptor genotypes and social cognitive performance in individuals with schizophrenia.
abstract: Individuals with schizophrenia often show substantial deficits in social cognitive abilities, which are strongly associated with social functioning. To advance our understanding of the genetic variation that is associated with social cognitive deficits in schizophrenia, we genotyped 74 schizophrenia outpatients who completed social cognitive performance measures assessing mentalizing, social perception, and emotional intelligence, as well as clinical symptoms. We assessed seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) previously found to show replicable associations with socio-emotional processes. For one of the seven SNPs, rs2268493, the 'T' allele was significantly associated with poorer performance on a composite social cognition index, as well as specific tests of mentalizing and social perception. None of the SNPs were associated with clinical symptoms. Though the sample size is small, these findings provide initial support for the involvement of genetic variants of the OXTR in social cognitive impairments in schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Los Angeles, CA, United States; VA Desert Pacific Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Los Angeles, CA, United States; VA Desert Pacific Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
authors.forename: William P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Horan
authors.affiliation: UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
authors.forename: Erika L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Nurmi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
authors.forename: Shemra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rizzo
authors.affiliation: UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Los Angeles, CA, United States; Department of Biostatistics, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
authors.forename: Catherine A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Sugar
authors.affiliation: UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Los Angeles, CA, United States; VA Desert Pacific Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Los Angeles, CA, United States. Electronic address: mgreen@ucla.edu.
authors.forename: Michael F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Green
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D018045:Receptors, Oxytocin / Q000235:genetics*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications* / Q000235:genetics*; D012938:Social Perception; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: C569600:OXTR protein, human; D018045:Receptors, Oxytocin
keywords: Oxytocin; Oxytocin receptor; Schizophrenia; Single nucleotide polymorphism; Social cognition