Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité Campus Mitte, Charité University Medicine Berlin (Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin), Berlin, Germany.
PLoS One. 2012;7(12):e51882. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0051882. Epub 2012 Dec 20.
The nonapeptide oxytocin (OXT) and its receptor (OXTR) have been implicated in social cognition, empathy, emotion and stress regulation in humans. Previous studies reported associations between OXT and OXTR genetic polymorphisms and risk for disorders characterized by impaired socio-emotional functioning, such as schizophrenia and autism. Here we investigate the influence of two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the OXTR gene on a measure of socio-emotional functioning in schizophrenic patients. OXTR SNPs that were previously investigated in other studies were genotyped in 145 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia according to DSM-IV and 145 healthy controls matched for age and gender. The Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) was used to assess cognitive ('perspective taking'), affective ('empathic concern') and self-related ('personal distress') dimensions of empathy. No group differences in genotype frequencies were observed. MANCOVA revealed a significant main (F [1,282] = 10.464; p<0.01) and interaction effect (genotype by diagnosis: F [1,282] = 4.329; p<0.05) of OXTR SNP rs2254298(A>GG) with 'empathic concern'. Within the schizophrenia group, linear regression analysis determined OXTR rs2254298 genotype, PANSS negative and general symptom score, and age of disease onset as being significantly associated with 'empathic concern'. OXTR rs2254298 significantly impacted PANSS general psychopathology scores. No associations were found for OXTR rs53576, IRI 'perspective taking' or 'personal distress' ratings. Our preliminary findings support hypotheses about an involvement of OXTR rs2254298 in emotional empathy in schizophrenic and healthy individuals, warranting independent replication.
神经九肽催产素（OXT）及其受体（OXTR）已被认为参与了人类的社会认知、同理心、情绪和应激调节。先前的研究报告称，OXT 和 OXTR 基因遗传多态性与社会情感功能障碍（如精神分裂症和自闭症）相关疾病的风险之间存在关联。在这里，我们研究了 OXTR 基因内的两个单核苷酸多态性（SNP）对精神分裂症患者社会情感功能的影响。根据 DSM-IV 诊断为精神分裂症的 145 名患者和年龄、性别匹配的 145 名健康对照者，对 OXTR 基因中以前研究过的 OXTR SNP 进行了基因分型。使用人际反应指数（IRI）评估同理心的认知（“换位思考”）、情感（“共情关怀”）和自我相关（“个人痛苦”）维度。未观察到基因型频率的组间差异。MANCOVA 显示 OXTR SNP rs2254298(A>GG)存在显著的主效应（F [1,282] = 10.464；p<0.01）和交互效应（基因型与诊断：F [1,282] = 4.329；p<0.05）与“共情关怀”。在精神分裂症组中，线性回归分析确定 OXTR rs2254298 基因型、PANSS 阴性和一般症状评分以及疾病发病年龄与“共情关怀”显著相关。OXTR rs2254298 与 PANSS 一般精神病学评分显著相关。未发现 OXTR rs53576、IRI“换位思考”或“个人痛苦”评分与 OXTR rs53576 相关。我们的初步研究结果支持了 OXTR rs2254298 参与精神分裂症和健康个体情感同理心的假设，需要进一步验证。
