Department of Behavioral and Molecular Neurobiology, University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany.
Behav Brain Res. 2013 Aug 15;251:85-94. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2012.08.011. Epub 2012 Aug 17.
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and social anxiety disorder involve various forms of social deficits like impaired affiliative behavior, social cognition and social approach. Although the neurobiological underpinnings of these disorders are largely unknown, rodent and human studies suggest an involvement of the evolutionary highly conserved oxytocin (OXT) and vasopressin (AVP), as these neuropeptides modulate various aspects of mammalian social behaviors. In this review we summarize the current knowledge regarding the involvement of brain OXT and AVP in rodent social behaviors related to social dysfunctions in ASD. Starting with an introduction into the neurobiology of the central OXT and AVP systems (neuroanatomy, central release, receptor distribution) we describe the distinct roles OXT and AVP play in basic social behaviors in rodents, i.e. affiliative behavior (pair-bonding and maternal behavior), social cognition (social memory), and social approach (social preference or social avoidance). The regulatory capacity of OXT and AVP to modulate social behaviors in various rodent species implies a high translational potential, in particular that dys-regulations in the brain neuropeptide systems may underlie social dysfunctions in ASD. It also suggests that the brain OXT and AVP systems are promising pharmacotherapeutic targets to improve social behaviors and to reverse social deficits.
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）和社交焦虑障碍涉及各种形式的社交缺陷，如社交行为受损、社交认知和社交接近。尽管这些疾病的神经生物学基础在很大程度上尚不清楚，但啮齿动物和人类研究表明，进化上高度保守的催产素（OXT）和加压素（AVP）的参与，因为这些神经肽调节着哺乳动物各种社交行为。在这篇综述中，我们总结了目前关于大脑 OXT 和 AVP 在与 ASD 社交功能障碍相关的啮齿动物社交行为中的作用的知识。首先介绍了中枢 OXT 和 AVP 系统的神经生物学（神经解剖学、中枢释放、受体分布），然后描述了 OXT 和 AVP 在啮齿动物基本社交行为中的独特作用，即社交行为（伴侣结合和母性行为）、社交认知（社交记忆）和社交接近（社交偏好或社交回避）。OXT 和 AVP 调节各种啮齿动物物种社交行为的调节能力表明其具有很高的转化潜力，特别是大脑神经肽系统的失调可能是 ASD 中社交功能障碍的基础。这也表明大脑 OXT 和 AVP 系统是有希望的药物治疗靶点，可以改善社交行为并逆转社交缺陷。
