Oxytocin plasma concentrations in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder: correlation with autistic symptomatology

Taurines, Regina; Schwenck, Christina; Lyttwin, Benjamin; Schecklmann, Martin; Jans, Thomas; Reefschläger, Lennart; Geißler, Julia; Gerlach, Manfred; Romanos, Marcel

doi:10.1007/s12402-014-0145-y

Cited by 53 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…Park et al (2010) linked a specific OT receptor polymorphism to low social cognition in children with ADHD. In another study on ADHD, plasma OT levels were reported to be lower in boys with ADHD compared with HCs, and it was suggested that the decreased levels could result from difficulties in emotion regulation and recognition of emotion observed in ADHD (Taurines et al, 2014). In that study, four children with ADHD also had comorbid mood or anxiety disorder and five patients had an ODD/CD.…”

Section: Ot and Adhdmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…In one of these studies, ADHD patients (10.4 1.9 years) diagnosed using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed. (DSM-IV) differed from healthy control (HC) and autistic children by significantly decreased plasma OT concentrations (Taurines et al, 2014). Four of these children with ADHD also had a comorbid mood or anxiety disorder diagnosis, and five had an oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) or CD.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The relationship between aggression, empathy skills and serum oxytocin levels in male children and adolescents with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder

Demirci

Özmen

Kilic

et al. 2016

Behavioural Pharmacology

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Although attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are recognized as neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by impairment in executive functions, impairments in social functioning are often accompanied by ADHD. Oxytocin (OT) has been investigated in a number of psychiatric disorders owing to its effects on social interactions. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between aggression, empathy and OT levels in children with ADHD. Forty male patients with ADHD, ranging in age from 7 to 18 years, and 40 healthy age-matched and sex-matched individuals were included in this study. The patients and healthy controls filled in the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire and Bryant's Empathy Index for Children and Adolescents; the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test was then completed. Blood samples were collected for OT at the beginning of the study. Lower serum OT levels were observed in patients with ADHD compared with the healthy controls. Moreover, there was a negative correlation between serum OT level and aggression scores and a positive correlation between the serum OT level and empathy scores in patients with ADHD. We conclude that OT may play a role in aggression and empathy skills, affecting the social life of those with ADHD.

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Section: Ot and Adhdmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The relationship between aggression, empathy skills and serum oxytocin levels in male children and adolescents with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder

Demirci

Özmen

Kilic

et al. 2016

Behavioural Pharmacology

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show abstract

“…Within the endogenous oxytocin system, plasma oxytocin levels are highly variable across individuals and are often hypothesized to be a biomarker of disease or disorder (12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17). However, establishing direct links between oxytocin levels and specific social abilities has proven difficult, and the majority of studies have mixed results (18,19).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Epigenetic modification of the oxytocin receptor gene influences the perception of anger and fear in the human brain

Puglia

Lillard

Morris

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

172

156

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In humans, the neuropeptide oxytocin plays a critical role in social and emotional behavior. The actions of this molecule are dependent on a protein that acts as its receptor, which is encoded by the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR). DNA methylation of OXTR, an epigenetic modification, directly influences gene transcription and is variable in humans. However, the impact of this variability on specific social behaviors is unknown. We hypothesized that variability in OXTR methylation impacts social perceptual processes often linked with oxytocin, such as perception of facial emotions. Using an imaging epigenetic approach, we established a relationship between OXTR methylation and neural activity in response to emotional face processing. Specifically, high levels of OXTR methylation were associated with greater amounts of activity in regions associated with face and emotion processing including amygdala, fusiform, and insula. Importantly, we found that these higher levels of OXTR methylation were also associated with decreased functional coupling of amygdala with regions involved in affect appraisal and emotion regulation. These data indicate that the human endogenous oxytocin system is involved in attenuation of the fear response, corroborating research implicating intranasal oxytocin in the same processes. Our findings highlight the importance of including epigenetic mechanisms in the description of the endogenous oxytocin system and further support a central role for oxytocin in social cognition. This approach linking epigenetic variability with neural endophenotypes may broadly explain individual differences in phenotype including susceptibility or resilience to disease. oxytocin receptor | OXTR | epigenetics | fMRI | social perception

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“…Furthermore, many studies of OXT as a biomarker have reported to social recognition and memory [17], romantic love, trust, and fear in humans [18], and mind-reading in humans [19]. Recently, Taurines et al have reported that OXT plasma concentration was correlation with autism symptomatology in children with ASD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) [20]. Early detection and rapid cure of ASD or ADHD are important, and OXT might be potential use in those disorders diagnosis as its biomarker in child development.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Cohort Study of the Level of Plasma Oxytocin associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Japanese Males, Females and Pregnant Females

Sano¹,

Watanabe²

2016

Clin Med Biochemistry Open Access

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Oxytocin (OXT), which is a nonapeptide hormone with amidation of the C-terminal carboxyl and an internal disulfide bridge between two cysteines, is secreted mainly from the posterior pituitary gland. Recently, OXT was shown to play important key roles in social interactions and social behavior. Specifically, a series of studies investigated the relationship between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and OXT. Few large-scale research reports have been published on plasma OXT levels in Japanese individuals. Investigation of a possible association between ASD and plasma OXT levels will be valuable for OXT research. Here, we measured plasma OXT levels in about 200 pregnant Japanese females during early gestation, the second trimester of pregnancy, the last trimester of pregnancy, and in the funiculus umbilical is shortly after delivery utilizing an OXT enzyme immunoassay kit. As a results, the average plasma OXT levels of 11 Japanese males 22-65 years old and 11 non-pregnant females 23-59 years old were 31.7 ± 10.2 and 25.3 ± 6.1 pg/mL, respectively. Moreover, OXT levels in plasma in early gestation, the second trimester of pregnancy, the last trimester of pregnancy, and the funiculus umbilicalis were 27.88 ± 10.88 (n=43), 33.06 ± 16.06 (n=111), 42.97 ± 35.96 (n=91) and 34.66 ± 22.42 pg/mL (n=130), respectively. Little information regarding plasma OXT levels among the Japanese population is available. We suggest that these results may be valuable on a broad scale in prospective cohorts when examining an association between the mother and the formative influence on her child with ASD, after conducting a follow-up determination of OXT levels in Japanese individuals.

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Oxytocin plasma concentrations in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder: correlation with autistic symptomatology

Cited by 53 publications

References 68 publications

The relationship between aggression, empathy skills and serum oxytocin levels in male children and adolescents with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder

The relationship between aggression, empathy skills and serum oxytocin levels in male children and adolescents with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder

Epigenetic modification of the oxytocin receptor gene influences the perception of anger and fear in the human brain

A Cohort Study of the Level of Plasma Oxytocin associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Japanese Males, Females and Pregnant Females

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