Jobst Andrea, Padberg Frank, Mauer Maria-Christine, Daltrozzo Tanja, Bauriedl-Schmidt Christine, Sabass Lena, Sarubin Nina, Falkai Peter, Renneberg Babette, Zill Peter, Gander Manuela, Buchheim Anna
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Germany.
Department of Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin Berlin, Germany.
Front Hum Neurosci. 2016 Mar 30;10:125. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00125. eCollection 2016.
Interpersonal problems and affective dysregulation are core characteristics of borderline personality disorder (BPD). BPD patients predominantly show unresolved attachment representations. The oxytocin (OT) system is associated with human social attachment and affiliative behavior, and OT dysregulation may be related to distinct attachment characteristics. Here, we investigated whether attachment representations are related to peripheral OT levels in BPD patients. Twenty-one female BPD patients and 20 age-, gender-, and education-matched healthy controls (HCs) were assessed with clinical scales and measures of interpersonal and attachment-related characteristics, including the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP). Plasma OT concentrations were measured prior to and during social exclusion in a virtual ball tossing game (Cyberball). The majority of BPD patients (63.2%) but no HCs showed unresolved (disorganized) attachment representations. In this subgroup of patients, baseline OT plasma levels were significantly lower than in BPD patients with organized attachment representations. This pilot study extends previous findings of altered OT regulation in BPD as a putative key mechanism underlying interpersonal dysregulation. Our results provide first evidence that altered OT plasma levels are related to disorganized attachment representations in BPD patients.
人际问题和情感失调是边缘型人格障碍（BPD）的核心特征。BPD患者主要表现出未解决的依恋表征。催产素（OT）系统与人类社会依恋和亲和行为有关，OT失调可能与不同的依恋特征有关。在此，我们研究了依恋表征是否与BPD患者的外周OT水平相关。我们使用临床量表以及人际和依恋相关特征的测量方法，包括成人依恋投射图片系统（AAP），对21名女性BPD患者和20名年龄、性别和教育程度相匹配的健康对照者（HCs）进行了评估。在虚拟抛球游戏（Cyberball）的社会排斥之前和期间测量血浆OT浓度。大多数BPD患者（63.2%）表现出未解决的（混乱的）依恋表征，而健康对照者中无人如此。在该患者亚组中，基线OT血浆水平显著低于具有有序依恋表征的BPD患者。这项初步研究扩展了先前关于BPD中OT调节改变的研究结果，这是人际失调潜在的关键机制。我们的结果首次证明，OT血浆水平的改变与BPD患者混乱的依恋表征有关。
