Abstract:
Oxytocin (OXT) and arginine-vasopressin (AVP) are two phylogenetically conserved
neuropeptides that have been implicated in a wide range of social behaviors. Although
a large body of research, ranging from rodents to humans, has reported on
the effects of OXT and AVP administration on affiliative and trust behaviors, and
has highlighted the genetic contributions of OXT and AVP receptor polymorphisms
to both social behaviors and to diseases related to social deficits, the consequences of
peptide administration on psychiatric symptoms, and the impact of receptor polymorphisms
on receptor function, are still unclear. Despite the exciting advances that
these reports have brought to social neuroscience, they remain preliminary and suffer
from the problems that are inherent to monogenetic linkage and association studies.
As an alternative, some studies are using polygenic approaches, and consider the
contributions of other genes and pathways, including those involving DA, 5-HT, and
reelin, in addition to OXT and AVP; a handful of report are also using genome-wide
association studies.
This review summarizes findings on the associations between OXT and AVP receptor
polymorphism, social behavior, and psychiatric diseases. In addition, we discuss reports
on the interactions of OXT and AVP receptor genes and genes involved in other
pathways (like those of dopamine, serotonin, and reelin), as well as research that has
shed some light on the impact of gene polymorphisms on the volume, connectivity,
and activation of specific neural structures, differential receptor expression, and
plasma levels of the OXT and AVP peptides. We hope that this effort will be helpful
for understanding the studies performed so far, and for encouraging the inclusion of
other candidate genes not explored to date.
