title: Oxytocin and Vasopressin Receptor Gene Polymorphisms: Role in Social and Psychiatric Traits.
abstract: Oxytocin (OXT) and arginine-vasopressin (AVP) are two phylogenetically conserved neuropeptides that have been implicated in a wide range of social behaviors. Although a large body of research, ranging from rodents to humans, has reported on the effects of OXT and AVP administration on affiliative and trust behaviors, and has highlighted the genetic contributions of OXT and AVP receptor polymorphisms to both social behaviors and to diseases related to social deficits, the consequences of peptide administration on psychiatric symptoms, and the impact of receptor polymorphisms on receptor function, are still unclear. Despite the exciting advances that these reports have brought to social neuroscience, they remain preliminary and suffer from the problems that are inherent to monogenetic linkage and association studies. As an alternative, some studies are using polygenic approaches, and consider the contributions of other genes and pathways, including those involving DA, 5-HT, and reelin, in addition to OXT and AVP; a handful of report are also using genome-wide association studies. This review summarizes findings on the associations between OXT and AVP receptor polymorphism, social behavior, and psychiatric diseases. In addition, we discuss reports on the interactions of OXT and AVP receptor genes and genes involved in other pathways (such as those of dopamine, serotonin, and reelin), as well as research that has shed some light on the impact of gene polymorphisms on the volume, connectivity, and activation of specific neural structures, differential receptor expression, and plasma levels of the OXT and AVP peptides. We hope that this effort will be helpful for understanding the studies performed so far, and for encouraging the inclusion of other candidate genes not explored to date.
authors: Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencia de Valparaíso, Universidad de ValparaísoValparaíso, Chile; Centro de Investigación en Complejidad Social, Facultad de Gobierno, Universidad del DesarrolloSantiago, Chile; Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi AvanzatiTrieste, Italy.
authors: Mauricio
authors: M
authors: Aspé-Sánchez
authors: Programa de Doctorado Interdisciplinario de Neurociencias, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Santiago, Chile.
authors: Macarena
authors: M
authors: Moreno
authors: Centro de Investigación en Complejidad Social, Facultad de Gobierno, Universidad del Desarrollo Santiago, Chile.
authors: Maria Ignacia
authors: MI
authors: Rivera
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School Boston, MA, USA.
authors: Alejandra
authors: A
authors: Rossi
authors: Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencia de Valparaíso, Universidad de Valparaíso Valparaíso, Chile.
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Ewer
keywords: GWAS; SNP; SSR; dopamine; polygenic trait; psychiatric disorders; quantitative traits loci; serotonin