Polymorphisms of two loci at the oxytocin receptor gene in populations of Africa, Asia and South Europe

Abstract

BackgroundThe oxytocin (OT) system is known to be implicated in the regulation of complex social behavior, particularly empathy and parenting. The goal of this study was to estimate the gender and population differences in polymorphisms of two oxytocin receptor gene SNPs, rs53576 and rs2254298, in four populations.ResultsThese data were compared with each other and with 14 samples from the corresponding regions retrieved from the 1000 Genomes database. Low level of heterozygosity was observed for both SNPs in all populations in this study (rs53576: Catalonian, Hobs = 0.413; Hadza, Hobs = 0.556; sr2254698: Khanty-Mansi, Hobs = 0.250; Datoga, Hobs = 0.550). The amount of variance due to regional variability was almost equal for both SNPs (rs53576: FRT = 0.086, rs2554298: FRT = 0.072), whereas variance for the population level of variability was twice bigger for rs2554298 (rs53576: FST = 0.127, rs2554298: FST = 0.162). Pairwise coefficients of fixation demonstrate that the Hadza were well differentiated from other African populations except of Datoga, the Datoga were weakly differentiated from other African origin populations, the Ob Ugric people were extremely differentiated from all other populations. Catalans were extremely differentiated of Asian populations.ConclusionsIt is hypothesized on the base of spatial distribution of the evolutionary novel A alleles of the both OXTR gene loci, that the spread of alleles of rs22542298 and rs53376 SNPs may be associated to some extant with manipulation of parental investment in humans.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12863-015-0323-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Associations between the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) rs53576 polymorphism and emotional processing of social and nonsocial cues: an event-related potential (ERP) study

“…The distribution of the OXTR rs53576 genotype is different between Asians and European Americans; more GG carriers than AA carriers are found among European Americans, whereas more AA carriers than GG carriers are found among Asians [ 26 , 27 , 34 , 35 ]. The present study also replicated previous results showing that AA carriers are more common than GG carriers in Asian populations (10 GG, 46 GA, and 32 AA carriers).…”

“…For instance, one study [ 34 ] found that the frequency of the A allele of OXTR rs53576 is related to collectivistic cultural values. Another study on the distribution of OXTR rs53576 in Africa, Asia, and South Europe [ 35 ] suggested that the A allele of OXTR rs53576 may be related to favoritism toward sons. As one factor affecting the interaction between genes and culture, future studies should investigate the evolutionary route that resulted in the difference in the distribution of OXTR rs53576 among regions.…”

Secular trends in height and pelvic size of Ob Ugrians (Khanty and Mansi)

“…Geographic location of data collecting sites Ðèñóíîê 1. Ãåîãðàôè÷åñêàÿ ëîêàëèçàöèÿ ðåãèîíà ñáîðà äàííûõ details see: [Kozlov et al, 2007;Butovskaya et al, 2016]). The individuals were assigned to birth cohorts (BiCo) spanning 10 years each.…”

Examining the link between emotional childhood abuse and social relationships in midlife: The moderating role of the oxytocin receptor gene

“…For allele and genotype frequency distributions of OXTR rs53576 in the American population, one study found that the G allele frequency was 0.657 and the A allele frequency was 0.343, and the AA frequency was 0.116, the AG frequency was 0.453, and the GG frequency was 0.431 (Butovskaya et al, 2016).…”