Oxytocin and Social Sensitivity: Gene Polymorphisms in Relation to Depressive Symptoms and Suicidal Ideation.

ABSTRACT: Although the neuropeptide oxytocin has been associated with enhanced prosocial behaviors, it has also been linked to aggression and mental health disorders. Thus, it was suggested that oxytocin might act by increasing the salience of social stimuli, irrespective of whether these are positive or negative, thus increasing vulnerability to negative mental health outcomes. The current study (N = 243), conducted among white university students, examined the relation of trauma, depressive symptoms including suicidal ideation in relation to a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) within the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR), rs53576, and a SNP on the CD38 gene that controls oxytocin release, rs3796863. Individuals with the polymorphism on both alleles (AA genotype) of the CD38 SNP had previously been

SUBMITTER: McQuaid RJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4949220 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature