title: Oxytocin pathways in the intergenerational transmission of maternal early life stress.
abstract: Severe stress in early life, such as childhood abuse and neglect, constitutes a major risk factor in the etiology of psychiatric disorders and somatic diseases. Importantly, these long-term effects may impact the next generation. The intergenerational transmission of maternal early life stress (ELS) may occur via pre-and postnatal pathways, such as alterations in maternal-fetal-placental stress physiology, maternal depression during pregnancy and postpartum, as well as impaired mother-offspring interactions. The neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) has gained considerable attention for its role in modulating all of these assumed transmission pathways. Moreover, central and peripheral OT signaling pathways are highly sensitive to environmental exposures and may be compromised by ELS with implications for these putative transmission mechanisms. Together, these data suggest that OT pathways play an important role in the intergenerational transmission of maternal ELS in humans. By integrating recent studies on gene-environment interactions and epigenetic modifications in OT pathway genes, the present review aims to develop a conceptual framework of intergenerational transmission of maternal ELS that emphasizes the role of OT.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Psychology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Luisenstraße 57, 10117, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Toepfer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Psychology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Luisenstraße 57, 10117, Berlin, Germany; Department of Biobehavioral Health, Penn State University, 219 Biobehavioral Health Building University Park, PA, 16802, USA.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Heim
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Psychology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Luisenstraße 57, 10117, Berlin, Germany; UC Irvine Development, Health and Disease Research Program, 333 The City Blvd. W, Suite 810, Orange, CA, 92868, USA.
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Entringer
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Kraepelinstr. 2-10, 80804, Munich, Germany; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, School of Medicine Atlanta, GA, 30307, USA.
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Binder
authors.affiliation: UC Irvine Development, Health and Disease Research Program, 333 The City Blvd. W, Suite 810, Orange, CA, 92868, USA.
authors.forename: Pathik
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wadhwa
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Psychology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Luisenstraße 57, 10117, Berlin, Germany; UC Irvine Development, Health and Disease Research Program, 333 The City Blvd. W, Suite 810, Orange, CA, 92868, USA. Electronic address: claudia.buss@charite.de.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Buss
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003863:Depression; D005260:Female; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D006801:Humans; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D013315:Stress, Psychological
chemical_list: D010121:Oxytocin
keywords: Depression; Development; Early life stress; Epigenetics; Gene-environment interactions; Intergenerational transmission; Mother-child; Oxytocin; Parenting behavior