Regulation of oxytocin receptor gene expression in obsessive-compulsive disorder: a possible role for the microbiota-host epigenetic axis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a prevalent and severe clinical condition. Robust evidence suggests a gene-environment interplay in its etiopathogenesis, yet the underlying molecular clues remain only partially understood. In order to further deepen our understanding of OCD, it is essential to ascertain how genes interact with environmental risk factors, a cross-talk that is thought to be mediated by epigenetic mechanisms. The human microbiota may be a key player, because bacterial metabolites can act as epigenetic modulators. We analyzed, in the blood and saliva of OCD subjects and healthy controls, the transcriptional regulation of the oxytocin receptor gene and, in saliva, also the different levels of major phyla. We also investigated the same molecular mechani

SUBMITTER: D'Addario C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8973787 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature