Love 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. Similar effects
are found for the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) that are in linkage disequilibrium
but not for the one that is unlinked. No genotype effects on dopamine release were
observed for males. Furthermore, female C carriers of rs4813625 had higher state-trait
anxiety ratings measured with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and lower scores on
an emotional well-being scale but did not experience more pain, as measured with the
McGill Pain Questionnaire. Higher DA release in turn correlated significantly with
lower emotional well-being ratings in females and higher trait anxiety in males and
at trend level in females.To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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References
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
May 14,
2012
Received:
May 14,
2012
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
ScienceDirect
Access this article on ScienceDirectLinked Article
- Oxytocin Gene Polymorphisms Influence Human Dopaminergic Function in a Sex-Dependent MannerBiological PsychiatryVol. 72Issue 3
- PreviewOxytocin, 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.
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