Oxytocin receptor mRNA expression in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in major psychiatric disorders: A human post-mortem study

Abstract

There is growing interest in oxytocin as a putative treatment for various psychiatric disorders including major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder. However, potential alterations in the endogenous brain oxytocin system in these disorders are poorly characterized. Brain expression of oxytocin and its receptor genes in patients with these psychiatric disorders has not been well studied outside the hypothalamus. We measured expression of mRNA for oxytocin and its receptor in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of postmortem brains using quantitative polymerase chain reaction in a total of 581 individuals. These individuals either were diagnosed with major depressive disorder (n = 135), bipolar disorder (n = 57), schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder (n = 169), or were control subjects, defined as individuals with no lifetime history of any of these disorders (n = 220). Diagnoses of major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder were associated with significantly increased oxytocin receptor mRNA levels in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This finding is discussed in light of the extant literature on the dysregulation of oxytocin signaling in individuals with major psychiatric disorders.

Keywords: Bipolar disorder; Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; Major depressive disorder; Oxytocin; Oxytocin receptor; Schizophrenia; mRNA.

Fig. 1.

Mean (± 95% CI) Oxytocin Receptor (OTR) mRNA levels in three diagnostic groups. *p < 0.001, Bonferroni corrected (MDD = Major Depressive Disorder; BPD = Bipolar Disorder; SZ = Schizophrenia).