Background
Oxytocin, classically involved in social and reproductive activities, is increasingly
recognized as an antinociceptive and anxiolytic agent, effects which may be mediated
via oxytocin's interactions with the dopamine system. Thus, genetic variation within
the oxytocin gene (OXT) is likely to explain variability in dopamine-related stress responses. As such,
we examined how OXT variation is associated with stress-induced dopaminergic neurotransmission in a healthy
human sample.
Methods
Fifty-five young healthy volunteers were scanned using [11C]raclopride positron emission tomography while they underwent a standardized physical
and emotional stressor that consisted of moderate levels of experimental sustained
deep muscle pain, and a baseline, control state. Four haplotype tagging single nucleotide
polymorphisms located in regions near OXT were genotyped. Measures of pain, affect, anxiety, well-being and interpersonal attachment
were also assessed.
Results
Female rs4813625 C allele carriers demonstrated greater stress-induced dopamine release,
measured as reductions in receptor availability from baseline to the pain-stress condition
relative to female GG homozygotes. No significant differences were detected among
males. We also observed that female rs4813625 C allele carriers exhibited higher attachment
anxiety, higher trait anxiety and lower emotional well-being scores. In addition,
greater stress-induced dopamine release was associated with lower emotional well-being
scores in female rs4813625 C allele carriers.
Conclusions
Our results suggest that variability within the oxytocin gene appear to explain interindividual
differences in dopaminergic responses to stress, which are shown to be associated
with anxiety traits, including those linked to attachment style, as well as emotional
well-being in women.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 15, 2012
Accepted:
January 26,
2012
Received in revised form:
January 13,
2012
Received:
August 13,
2011
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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- Is It in Our Genes: Oxytocin, Dopamine, Stress, and SexBiological PsychiatryVol. 72Issue 3
- PreviewLove et al. (1) describe in this issue of Biological Psychiatry a study combining imaging and genetics to examine the effect of genetic variations in the oxytocin (OT) gene on stress induced dopamine (DA) release measured via displacement of a D2/3 positron emission tomography radiotracer following a painful stimulus. They find a significant gene by sex interaction for a cluster of voxels in the right medial caudate, in which female carriers of the C allele of rs4813625 display the largest reduction in radiotracer binding indicative of greater dopamine release.
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