TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2019//
TI  - A role of oxytocin receptor gene brain tissue expression quantitative trait locus rs237895 in the intergenerational transmission of the effects of maternal childhood maltreatment
JO  - Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
A1  - Toepfer, Philipp
A1  - O'Donnell, Kieran J.
A1  - Entringer, Sonja
A1  - Heim, Christine M.
A1  - Lin, David T. S.
A1  - MacIsaac, Julia L.
A1  - Kobor, Michael S.
A1  - Meaney, Michael J.
A1  - Provençal, Nadine
A1  - Binder, Elisabeth B.
A1  - Wadhwa, Pathik D.
A1  - Buss, Claudia
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - OBJECTIVE: Women exposed to childhood maltreatment (CM) are more likely to exhibit insensitive parenting, which may have consequences for their offspring´s development. Variation in the Oxytocin-receptor gene (OXTR) moderates risk of CM-associated long-term sequelae associated with mother-child attachment, although functionality of previously investigated SNPs remained elusive. Here, we investigated the role of OXTR rs237895, a brain tissue expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL), as a moderator of the relationship between CM and maternal behavior (MB) and the association between MB and offspring attachment security. <br><br>METHOD: Of 110 women with information on rs237895 genotype (T-allele=64, CC=46), n=107 have information on CM (CTQ) and n=99 on standardized observer-based ratings of MB at 6 months postpartum (responsivity and detachment), which were used in principal components analysis to obtain a latent factor representing MB. Offspring (n=86) attachment was evaluated at 12 months age. Analyses predicting MB were adjusted for socioeconomic status (SES), age, postpartum depression (PPD), and genotype-based ethnicity. Analyses predicting child attachment were adjusted for infant sex, SES, and PPD. <br><br>RESULTS: rs237895 significantly moderates the relationship between CM and MB (F<sub>1;66</sub>=7.99, p<.01), indicating that CM was associated with maternal insensitivity only in high OXTR-expressing T-allele carriers but not in low OXTR-expressing CC homozygotes. Moreover, maternal insensitivity predicted offspring insecure attachment (B= -.551; p<.05). <br><br>CONCLUSION: Women with a high OXTR expressing genotype are more susceptible to CM-related impairments in MB that, in turn, predicts attachment security in their children, supporting the role of the OT-system in the intergenerational transmission of risk associated with maternal CM.<br><br>Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Inc.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0890-8567
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2019.03.006
ID  - ref1
ER  -